The GC Bar: A Requiem
by DSkinner
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Sadly, though not unpredictably, the GC Bar has closed. On March 17, Vice President of Student Affairs Matthew Schoengood sounded the death knell via an email: “Although we had hoped to provide this service on a trial basis through the end of Spring 2006 semester, it became apparent that this was not an economically feasible venture.” No further details were provided.
For the record, this reporter enjoyed the bar very much. Though its life was short (a brief 22 days — oh, it never had a chance!), the conversations were lively and the beer delicious and reasonably priced. This reasonableness, of course, is no doubt the reason why the bar is no more. Reasonable=affordable=bad for Restaurant Associates’ coffers.
Sure, the hours were terrible (most people start drinking at 9), and the aesthetic was, well, boring corporate blarg. But still, it was nice to know that the GC community had a place to gather on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On one occasion, important DSC-related gossip was exchanged, and I felt warmly “in the know.” On another occasion, I discussed Milton Friedman with a colleague. I understood the world better, and enjoyed a Heineken Dark.
My feeling? There is no way to have both an “economically feasible venture” in this building and services appropriate to the needs of students receiving a public education — so long as the GC outsources food services to the same union-busting conglomerate that services Goldman Sachs, the Pierpont Morgan Library and Nasdaq Marketsite. CUNY and Restaurant Associates are — or at least should be — oil and water.
Though Schoengood hopes “to encourage other types of community gatherings in the future,” the bar experiment calls into question whether this is really possible. The GC bar, like all efforts subject to neo-liberal logics, is a victim not of student apathy, but the political-economic constraints of the Restaurant Associates business model. This model is antithetical to the very notion of a vibrant GC community.
RIP GC Bar. Is RA next?
