It’s located above Tom’s Restaurant (Google Maps)
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After nearly 60 years on the Upper West Side, a quiet yet globally impactful hub of climate science is being uprooted—suddenly and with little clarity about what comes next.
More than 100 employees at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), located above Tom’s Restaurant at West 112th and Broadway, have been told to vacate their offices by the end of May, the New York Times reports. Since 1966, the institute has occupied Columbia University’s Armstrong Hall–above the diner made famous by Seinfeld–conducting research on everything from Earth’s warming climate to the atmospheres of distant planets.
The move, federal officials say, is part of a broader cost-cutting initiative ordered by the Trump administration, aimed at reevaluating leased federal office space—particularly in high-cost urban areas. But critics argue the eviction may do the opposite of what it intends.
The $3 million annual lease for the 43,000-square-foot space hasn’t been terminated in practice, because it’s not NASA footing the bill—it’s the General Services Administration, a separate federal agency. Columbia University confirms that the rent is still being paid. In effect, taxpayers may be covering an empty building, while the researchers are left scrambling.
“There is no logic behind this,” Kostas Tsigaridis, a GISS scientist and Columbia faculty member, told the Times. Others echoed the sentiment, pointing to recent investments NASA made in upgrading the facility—including a new conference room—and the disruption now underway. Furniture and decades of research materials are being boxed up and hauled to storage in New Jersey.
NASA officials say staff will temporarily shift to remote work while a new location is secured, which one onsite scientist we spoke with fears will have a negative impact on essential teamwork and collaboration. Meanwhile, Columbia is exploring alternative space to keep some of the scientists nearby, many of whom also teach at the university.
The uncertainty has stung. Researchers worry the move could fracture teams and slow progress. Amid broader funding cuts to climate and equity-related research, some fear this is part of a larger trend.
“Whatever the rationale,” said one longtime staffer, “the cost isn’t just financial. It’s human. It’s scientific. And it’s real.”
