Vanderbilt YMCA Hostel

I’m incredibly saddened by how inhumanely the people I encountered working here spoke to and treated me. They made me feel as if I didn’t matter as a person or have any place in the world. It’s so sad to see a YMCA treat someone this way. I suppose this is the new American way. ‘Merica #1! Treat other people terribly, don’t let them explain themselves or feel heard. Speak to them like a robot, as if they don’t matter. You guys are the best. This is the best way to act.

I like this YMCA location, though it’s my first YMCA, and the staff have been friendly and nice. I mostly come for the pool. It’s always clean and there’s always a lifeguard on duty. One of them was a bit too “aggressive” about the rules, but it didn’t spoil the experience. The other members are courteous too and ask before sharing a lane, which I really appreciate. I’ve kept making the trip from Brooklyn all the way to this midtown location because I’ve enjoyed it so much so far.

This is about the YMCA summer CAMP at the Vanderbilt location. It was a very bad experience: promised trips didn’t happen, the counselors did little beyond daycare, and the facilities were limited. My son and a friend from school who attended the same camp both said they were bored. My son is usually optimistic. The activities were minimal, mostly time gathered in a gym, and there was no intellectual challenge. They said there would be field trips and park outings, but there were very few, if any. There was no lunch, snack, or pool towel provided. Swimming was at most once a week unless you enrolled in swimming camp, which we’ve moved over to. Maybe that will be better. The camp doesn’t seem thought through for kids. It felt like relatively safe daycare, and that was all. The counselors seemed young and mostly untrained. My father grew up around a YMCA in Indiana in the 1930s, really, and I sometimes went to a Y on Long Island for swimming lessons and more. This Y just isn’t geared for kids. The few crafts didn’t go well either. For a tie dye project, my son brought home a plastic bag with a small green dyed cloth knapsack inside. The counselor handed it to me without saying it was still full of wet dye. It leaked on the way home, and my hands were green for a day and a half. Another day my son missed painting a cheap wooden slide whistle because he had a nosebleed in the morning. Instead of helping him catch up the next day and paint one, they gave him a plain unpainted whistle to take home. Altogether, it was a flop. We ran into another friend of his, Josh, on a bus one day. He’d attended the YMCA last year and was at a camp across the street, I was told. His mom said he hadn’t disliked it while he was there, but afterward realized how much better camp could be at the other place. There are plenty of camps around the city doing interesting things. This YMCA doesn’t seem to be one of them. Update: I got a response from them. An unknown representative asked me to contact them with more information and said they were eager to respond and improve their services, except they gave no contact person or number, only “Vanderbilt YMCA Team” (go team!). The response was completely generic and didn’t show they’d read the critical review. They asked for “specific details,” even though I’d already given them plenty. It seemed as insincere and mindless as you could expect. They said they were sorry and wanted more information, but I’d already provided all these points as criticism. I originally gave them two stars. Now it’s down to one. Anyone agree?

Ivone is an outstanding case worker. Five stars for her!