Lines from hell in latte heaven

Long lines and tedious waits are frustrating students seeking their morning caffeine fix at Faye's Starbucks at the Square, a campus staple.

NYU and Aramark, NYU's food service company, are considering enlarging the Starbucks to make more room for patrons. Starbucks already has 21 employees working at the location.

"Working with the Starbucks Corp., we're looking at possible future renovations to the location that will allow for the expansion of an additional barista station," said George Hellen, Aramark's resident district manager for NYU dining.

While Starbucks' management and NYU's dining services are trying to address space concerns, students find lines an annoying obstacle when trying to grab a cup of joe between classes.

For example, a WSN reporter found that the average wait to place an order after the 10:45 a.m. class dismissal was eight minutes, and it took an average of 11 minutes to actually get a drink in hand.

The line, which now often wraps around itself after looping around the back of Starbucks, has caused cramped and awkward moments for students.

"The lines at Starbucks are almost as bad as the elevator lines at Silver," CAS sophomore Julie Drummond said.

Faton Bolloum, who works at Faye's at the Square, said the number of people has increased since last year, adding more stress to the problem.

She said last year, the coffee shop "recorded 58 customers in 15 minutes, while this year it is up to 75 people ordering drinks in a 15-minute period."

Starbucks and NYU are working to fix these problems, officials said.

"We've added a third register to handle transactions, added a second handoff station to speed up beverage delivery and equipped cashiers with radios to process orders faster," Hellen said.

The radios, which allow one employee to take students orders in line, were implemented last March and seem to be cutting down the time it takes to get in and out, Bolloum said.

But student frustration has not subsided.

"I think it's promoting civil unrest within NYU," sophomore Lauren Page Burner said.