Fall 2026 Facilities Update: Weissberg Commons Renovated, Amsterdam Avenue Adds Bike Lane, More
Yeshiva University has undergone various renovations and facility updates across the Wilf and Beren campuses since last summer.
Notable changes on the Wilf campus include the renovation of Weissberg Commons. The space added screens, new flooring, a handwashing area and improved acoustics, enabled by a donation from the Weissberg family and a federal grant, according to a Sept. 1 email from YU Facilities and Administrative Services. In a Sept. 17 email, Facilities stated that further renovations would take place and “include finishing elements throughout the space.” They are slated to be finished by Thanksgiving, Randy Apfelbaum, YU’s chief facilities & administrative officer, told The Commentator.
Amsterdam Avenue was also revamped by the New York City Department of Transportation, including the addition of a bicycle lane, the Sept. 1 email said. The avenue’s speed limit was set to be lowered to 20 mph. “New bus stop ‘islands’” were also created, Apfelbaum added. Additionally on Wilf, flooring was renewed in the Furman Dining Hall. Further updates to the dining halls on Wilf and Beren are to be announced shortly, Apfelbaum said.
Belz Gallery, an eight-section Jewish art museum located in Furst Hall, also opened this semester, Provost Selma Botman announced in a Sept. 9 newsletter. Sections include “The Beginning of Modern Jewish Art,” “Biblical Sculpture in Modern Israel” and “Jewish Artists and Holocaust Memory.” It offers free admission, though visitors who are not YU students or staff are asked to schedule a visit online. The gallery’s collection was donated by Jack and Marilyn Belz; Jack’s father Phillip endowed RIETS’s Belz School of Jewish Music.
On the Beren campus, the Hedi Steinberg Library is undergoing renovations that will be finished by the end of the semester, Apfelbaum said. It was set to “receive a significant facelift with new furniture and a relocated circulation desk,” according to the Sept. 1 email. Additionally, Brookdale Hall added furniture to its lounge and patio and will receive a new awning this semester, while the facade of Benjamin and Schottenstein Halls will continue repairs into the spring, Apfelbaum stated.
Nineteen Wilf and 11 Beren classrooms were equipped with improved AV and all dormitories on both campuses added new washing machines, Apfelbaum said. Doors, windows and cameras across YU were also improved for security purposes.
Other work includes the continued replacement of Furst Hall’s roofing, the completed renovation of the exterior of Morgenstern Hall, whose scaffolding is being taken down, and new air conditioning in the Rubin Shul, according to Apfelbaum and the emails.
Zysman Hall’s front doors, “originally installed when the building was built in 1927, have outlived their useful life and were replaced during the school year with new doors designed to match the historic originals,” the Sept. 1 email added.
Ezra Wallach (YC ‘27) shared his thoughts on the new bike lane.
“It’s great that NYC is creating these dedicated biking-only zones to actively encourage bikers to get off the sidewalks where they risk hitting people, and also actively encouraging bikers to get off the street where they are at risk of getting hit by cars,” Wallach told The Commentator. “The only caveat is that it is an extra layer for the many pedestrians and students who cross Amsterdam many times a day and it’s an annoying extra thing to have to watch out for bikers who are speeding down the lane.”
Photo Caption: Weissberg Commons as of Oct. 15
Photo Credit: Daniel Brauner
