Bored At Bobst? 5 Places to Study For NYU Students
After Bobst grows tiresome and the wooden desk in the dorm becomes unbearable, migrating beyond the NYU bubble is a must. Name any café below 14th Street, and I’ve probably scouted it for a good study spot—because let’s be honest, there's only so much typing you can do under the painfully fluorescent lights on the first floor of Bobst before your brain starts begging for a change of scenery. Especially if, like me, you have a serious aversion to chain coffee shops. I judge my satellite study spots based on comfort (armchairs are a plus), acoustics (can I hear myself think?), and how friendly the staff is (can I stay here all day even if I only order a croissant?) Here are five spots you shouldn’t miss as an NYU student.
1. St. George Coffee Shop in the West Village
Right at the perfect intersection between campus, the West Village, and SoHo stands St. George, a two-story cafe part of the Brandy Melville umbrella conglomerate. If the hour-long weekend lines outside the SoHo Brandy speak to the stellar job that the marketing team is doing, you’d be pleased to find that the cafe has managed to bottle that same chic vibe without the wait. Opening hours are from 11am to 8pm, and it’s a ten minute walk from Bobst.
2. Dominique Ansel Bakery in SoHo
It’s gone viral on social media for its pastries, but the real draw is the warm, pleasant room towards the back with plenty of natural light, which is a real treat during the winter. No matter what the detractors (Yelp users) say, I’ll never stop coming here, despite the owner’s reputation, who is not without controversy amongst local pastry chefs for trademarking the Cronut. It’s open from 8 to 7 daily, and it’s about twelve minutes away from Bobst.
3. Poetica Coffee in the East Village
Poetica’s floor-to-ceiling windows flood the space with sunlight—perfect for a cooler, sunny day. It’s an ideal spot to get work done with just enough background noise, upbeat music and two dozen specialty macarons to choose from. The cafe is open from 8am to 6pm, and it’s a fifteen minute walk from campus.
4. Caffe Reggio in Greenwich Village
A tried-and-true favorite for desserts and cappuccinos, its mahogany wooden chairs and tables are pleasantly inviting for a study session or coffee break. Its outdoor seating has heaters in the winter, and even though it’s on MacDougal street, the enclosed seating area muffles sound excellently. Open from 9am to 3am, Cafe Reggio’s hours make for a perfect midterm season pick-me-up– and it’s only a five minute walk from the library.
5. Petite Boucherie Bistro in the West Village
Despite the fact that this is a bistro and not a cafe, this clean, lofty spot that evokes a laid-back Parisian locale is laptop friendly. The quiet street in the West Village that this spot sits on is great for concentration. Open from 11am to midnight, it’s a ten minute walk from the library.
