After a decade of meticulous construction and several delays, John Jay is eagerly occupying its new building.
The college staff rushed mid-semester to complete the first step of the big move in order to get most classes settled in by November 7th.  The majority of the non-academic departments are already in full operation in the Concourse level of the 13-storied building on 59 street that adjoins the T-building.
“It’s been 12 years in the making, we’re pushing the contract. The building is clean and modern, and we don’t want to wait anymore”, said Senior Vice President Robert Pignatello, Office of Finance and Administration.
The new campus cost CUNY $587 million, and it is the second largest project after the Advanced Science Research Center for the City College, which is worth $744 million. Paid by the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, this 620,000-sq. foot building is decked out with an array of high-tech academic gadgets. It features state-of-the-art forensic laboratories, including Emergency Management and High Rise Simulator labs, spacious classrooms, lecture halls, cyber lounges, 311 computer stations, a moot court and a black box theatre.
“It is going to be a great learning experience. Beautiful classrooms, smart technologies, everything is wireless. We’ll have more space for clubrooms, lots of open space,” said Pignatello.
According to Pignatello, the North Hall has been in operation since 1973 and it always lacked enough space for students “to engage with each other more.” Initially meant to become a shoe factory, the building was never designed to be a college.
“That explains it”, said Ciera Morris, a Criminal Justice Junior, when she discovered that she had been studying under the roof of what was once meant to be a manufacturing site.
On November 3 the new building opened to the John Jay student body. The celebration included performances from a live band provided by the Artists United club as well as a variety of free food and beverage. Most of the students were already familiar with the new building because of the photographs on the official website.
“It’s all glass and big; it’s really nice. I’ve seen a few pictures on the website,” said Aleena Peerzada, a Forensic Psychology freshman.
“I’ve seen the pictures on the website and it looks very, very good. Architecture is very appealing, it looks very interesting”, said Cesar Monroy, a Culture and Deviance Senior.
To Monroy, moving mid-semester posed some uncertainty since one-fourth of North Hall will not be moving to the new building until January.
“The majority of my classes are going to be over there. It is convenient and inconvenient because they’re going to be here and there,” he said. But a second later added,” I understand it is temporary. We’ll get used to it.”
“It feels like a campus”, said another student, Juana Abreu, a Criminal Justice Administration and Planning Junior. Still Abreu feels the college administration could be doing more to familiarize students with the new complex. ”Because we are so scattered we don’t have a lot of togetherness but with community hour, I think, it’ll get better,” she added.
“Yeah, I like it. It’s big, and it’s way better than North Hall, like the lounges and everything; and I like the Jay Walk that’s supposed to open up. I’m definitely excited about that,” said Rafael Camacho, a Criminal Justice junior.
The Jay Walk, a 60,000 sq. feet outdoor area, opens spring 2012 and will include a 600 seat dining area and a vegetable garden.
“People are comparing it to the High Line”, said Pignatello, referring to the famous park created from recycled train tracks on the West Side of New York that stretches from the 12 Street to the 30 Street and is elevated from the ground.
Indeed, the park-like space will be four floors above the ground with benches, lawns and trees, connecting the Haaren Hall to the new campus.
“It makes a better impression; it makes our school look better. People who want to come in to the school they’re looking and comparing, you know, and this is a better impression,” added another student, Veronica Marroquin, a Political Science senior.
The question of what would happen to the old and defective North Hall puzzled many.
“Are they going to repair it?” asked Manpree Uppal, a Criminal Justice Junior. “The majority of my science classes are here,” she said.
“It is CUNY’s property. We have to vacate it by the summer of 2012, and yes, it will be a new community college,” said Pignatello. He also confirmed that classes will still be held in the Westport building.
Acquiring a new home is only half of the work. The college hired Eagle Transfer Corporation, a private moving company, to organize the meticulous relocation process. Loaded trucks and movers worked 14 hours a day to meet the deadline.
“We’ve been working since Monday (October 24), from 8.30 am to 10.30pm,” said Nick Tagew, one of the movers. “All the boxes are tagged; we load trucks and unload them at the building. Everything is going smooth, no complaints,” he said.
Most of the contents being transferred were personal items and files, as the new building is fully furnished.
“It’s weird,” said Lisa Cummings of Students Life Office. “We are moving in the middle of the semester? And I heard there will be no cafeteria in the North Hall when classes will be moving in January.”
Some disappointment was voiced by the Forensic Science student club that has to share a room now in the new club row with Debate Society.
“It’s messed up. We came in here and all our stuff was on this table. They moved it all to another one,” said Alyssa Calderone, a Forensic Science senior.
Despite the fact that the new building has plenty of space, the student clubs will have familiar, old style conditions to accommodate their needs. “We have no power”, Calderone said in a frustrated tone after having learned that somebody had moved their equipment. “I understand we gotta share but I’m not touching anybody’s stuff,” she added.
Abigail Padilla, President of Environmental Club, initially had no problem having the Able Forces club as her roommates. “Most of the clubs were sharing rooms in the North Hall. Some rooms had two, or even three, clubs”, she said.
Later however, Padilla had a change of heart, “It’s been what, 10 years? They should’ve given us more space. I know Baruch and Hunter have around 150 clubs and we have 45. They’re given more money. I heard they are going to add one more club to each room on this side of the hall. It is small for three clubs.”
Apparently the administration never anticipated this growth and expansion of student activities, or at least not at such a level. “That’s the original club row that was constructed 11 years ago, when they planned the building”, said Berenecea Johnson Eanes, the head of the Student Affairs, when asked to clarify why the clubs did not acquire more space. “There’s a lot of stuff that didn’t exist, the entire John Jay won’t still fit in the new building, so we’re keeping our satellite buildings.”
To make maneuvering around the buildings easier, the administration has set up special “Getting around John Jay” stands that feature built-in maps of all the main campuses.
As the moving process gains its full strength, the school is preparing to launch “GPS-like mobile applications” that would enable the user to identify one’s location, according to Pignatello. This hi-tech application is only a couple of months away.
In addition to the maps and detailed brochures that will be handed out at public safety desks, the college is providing online virtual tours and student ambassadors are helping their peers find classrooms and services.