SOCAPA New York City is centered around two campuses, one in Manhattan's East Village and the other in the historic Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn. Our Manhattan classrooms, studios and residential buildings are all based at Astor Place in the heart of the East Village. Our Brooklyn classroom facilities are hosted by Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema on the famous Steiner Studios film lot, while our residence and dining halls in Brooklyn are located at neighboring Pratt Institute.
All SOCAPA New York City students enjoy organized evening and weekend activities that embrace the city around them. Ranging from Coney Island to Times Square to Broadway shows, campers enjoy visits to many of the city’s most famous highlights, as well as traditional camp nights of karaoke, talent shows, games, and Q&As with guest speakers.
Classes are held at Playwrights Horizons Theater School, one of New York University’s professional training studios at Tisch School of the Arts. Located at Lafayette Street and Astor Place above the Blue Man Group Theater and across from Joe’s Pub (the Public Theater), SOCAPA students are immersed in a thriving arts scene in the heart of the East Village. The two-story facility includes three black box style theaters, four dance studios, and seven rehearsal studios.
Playwrights Downtown
440 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10003
(at Astor Place)
Loeb Hall; 135 E 12th St; New York, NY 10003
6 to Astor Place.
R, W to 8th Street.
B, D, F, M to Broadway Lafayette.
4, 5, L, N, Q to Union Square.
Most classes are held at Brooklyn College's Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema, a brand-new, 68,000-square-foot, purpose-built 21st-century film school, located on the Steiner Studios lot in the Brooklyn Navy yard. The facility houses four soundstages, two music recording studios, three post-production editing labs, 4K screening rooms, digital design labs, foley and ADR rooms, a costume shop, and other multi-purpose training spaces.
Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema
25 Washington Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11205
Emerson Place Residence
135 Emerson Place, Brooklyn, NY 11205
G train to Classon Ave.
AST (Astoria Line) to Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Students who live locally or who have friends/family to stay with in New York City are welcome to attend the program as Day Students. Day Students commute to campus each day and return home each evening after classes. New York day students do not join residential life activities.
We service the three major airports in and around New York City: JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark. Upon your arrival, one of our counselors, wearing a SOCAPA t-shirt and holding a sign with your name, will greet you at the exit to the baggage claim area for your flight and will get you on shuttle from the airport to campus. At the end of your program, we will help you check-in at your airline's check-in counter; unfortunately we cannot escort you beyond security.
You must fill out the online Travel Form at least 2 WEEKS PRIOR to the start of the program.
There is a fee of $95 per airport transfer for LGA, $105 for JFK and $115 for EWR.
Please note, SOCAPA does not provide unaccompanied minor airport pick-up or drop-off at our NYC campuses. Unaccompanied minor service can still be purchased through your airline but you must arrange for a relative or friend to meet your student at the gate.
If you have made air arrangements outside our scheduled dates, times, or airports we service, you will need to arrange for transportation from the airport to the residence hall.
Students who choose our Housing Option stay in The New School University's Loeb Hall in the heart of the East Village, just five blocks from our Astor Place studios. The residence hall features two-bedroom suites (two students per bedroom) that share a private bath and kitchenette and the following amenenities:
Students are responsible for purchasing their own meals at our Manhattan campus. For the first three days of the session, our counselors will guide students to some of our favorite places to eat. After that, students may sign out in small groups and explore the culinary options in the East Village together. They may also order take-out and/or prepare simple meals in their kitchens. They must always be in small groups, never alone. The NYU East Village area around the dormitory boasts one of the most diverse and reasonably priced concentrations of delis, street vendors, cafés and restaurants anywhere in the world so students have a plethora of choices for meals. Prices can vary from two-dollar falafels and slices of pizza to twelve dollar sit down sushi combo dinners. We make it a point to recommend a wide variety of our favorite New York cheap eats and to encourage our students to try something they can't get at home. We generally recommend a total of $280/week to cover meals.
Day students should plan to attend orientation at 9am on the first Monday morning of their session. Schedules and important information are shared during this orientation, and students will also meet their classmates and teachers. Depending on the program, most class activities begin at 9:45am and end at 4pm, Monday through Friday. Some 3-week programs also require students to attend 1 of their final weekend days, such as during a longer shoot day for filmmakers and actors.
Students are responsible for following their individual program schedule and respecting that others are counting on them to be there for early call times, evening production meetings, etc. They should also note that schedules may change due to weather, special events, or other circumstances, and watch for communication from campus about these changes. Day students do not have residential staff to remind them of changes, so they’re responsible for paying attention to knowing where they’re supposed to be for class or events.
Day students should be aware that most of our attendees are residential students who live in our dormitories, and that our programming is structured for students who are in our care 24/7. Day students often befriend others in the programs, but they won’t be a part of evening trips, floor meetings, roommate experiences, or other quintessential parts of sleep-away camp that residential students enjoy.
At our Manhattan campus, day students are also not able to enter our residence buildings due to security guidelines. Manhattan students eat out in the nearby area, so they will often eat together with day student classmates who have evening class, but when students first leave class there can be a break while resident students change, shower, etc. Day students in Manhattan should be prepared to be particularly independent and comfortable with these logistical separations from their friends.
