by RUTH KIM
Anyone who’s ever needed a place to study for several hours at a time and been frustrated by the noise at coffee shops or libraries with lax security and no food or drinks allowed may find NY Study Room in Manhattan quite the sweet spot.
The website Ozy and NBC News recently featured the business, which also goes by the name NY Dokseosil, started by sisters YoungJin and Obi Lee, who were accustomed to the plethora of study rooms available in their native South Korea.
When YoungJin first came to the U.S. several years ago, she was always searching for a quiet, safe place to study, but couldn’t find anything close to the dedicated study spaces she enjoyed in Korea.
YoungJin and Obi Lee, left to right. (Photo via NBC News)
So, she and Obi decided to bring a convention from their mother country to their adopted homeland. They rented out a space on the fifth floor of a building in Manhattan’s Koreatown and began transforming it. The resulting NY Dokseosil, which opened in October of 2013, boasts plenty of individual desk spaces and meeting rooms with special, comfortable chairs that allow students to pore over their textbooks or laptops for hours without putting strain on their backs, according to Ozy.
The study room has attracted a steady flow of patrons, mostly by word of mouth, and it’s no wonder when you find out about the hourly rate. At $3 an hour, or $10 for six hours, you can study at your own pace. The majority of customers are adults studying for CPA exams or citizenship tests, and according to Ozy, one customer just passed the bar exam. Like a delighted mother, Obi told Ozy, “We’re so proud of him.”
And that’s kind of what these two ladies are to their patrons: mother figures who provide a homey spot to study with free cups of coffee. And it’s not all work; with board games, a dance studio and beds at the ready, there’s also the opportunity for some post-studying playtime—or naptime. In addition, the space offers meet-ups and can quickly transform into a cultural hub where Koreans, who make up a majority of the patrons, as well as non-Koreans can socialize and engage in a type of informal cultural exchange.
“They want a sing-a-long and watch drama together. They know a lot about Korea, but they want to know more,” Obi told NBC News, of the non-Korean patrons.
The cafe also tries to play a helpful role to Koreans who are new to the city, as evident on the NY Dokseosil’s website, which provides information, mainly in Korean, about colleges, language centers and other useful links for the newcomers.
The study room is generally open from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., with extended hours available in some cases, and according to the NBC News article, can now also be rented out for gallery showings and business events.
Photos via NBC News.
