I sat in my dorm room (Gramercy Green) on a Saturday night at approximately midnight contemplating the trouble I have gotten myself into this time. For the third time this year, I have been held responsible for a noise complaint and must attend yet another meeting with the CDE (Community Development Educator.) After a weekend in which I lost my room key (an outrageous $20.00 fee), came home to the power out in my room, and was woken up to a test fire alarm, it dawned on me that I am paying nearly $1,500 rent for stricter regulations than I had at my parents house.
Every year thousands of New York University students apply for NYU housing seemingly not recognizing their many other housing options in New York City. After a solid month or two, many students begin to experience the stark recognition of the many faults to NYU housing –probation, expense of forgetting NYU keys, shared bedroom, rat infested heater etc. The list is somewhat similar to many lists of people outside of NYU housing, but the price is not.
“Anybody who actually looks into the financial pros and cons of NYU housing would never sign up for it again after freshman year,” said Dave Coll, a Politics major at New York University. “I don’t feel like I missed out on any aspect of college life living off campus. My friends never want to stay in the dorm, so the party always comes to me,” said Coll who spent his sophomore year residing in a studio in the West Village.
The price of NYU housing varies, but for the most part students are paying a gruesome $1,460 a month to live in "luxury" apartment style dorms. A lot of NYU students are confused as to where exactly these pricy luxuries are.
Some, like Coll, see it as profitable to get out of NYU housing as quickly as possible. “I made the mistake of staying in NYU housing as a sophomore,” said Annie Baer, a sophomore residing in Gramercy Green. “Considering the amount of times I lost my key and had to pay $20.00, along with the amount of times I was rejected from the building because of no NYU identification made living in housing definitely not worth it, both financially and mentally.”
According to the NYU website, NYU housing is a safe community base for students to live in. The truth of the matter is for $1,460 per month one could have their own apartment (or share an apartment, with their own bedroom) along with a doorman, and a choice of neighborhoods.
Apart from the steep prices of NYU dormitory, Resident Assistants follow strict guidelines that make it difficult for students to enjoy their weekends. The walls being incredibly thin, and the halls generating noise as if it’s through a loudspeaker are not favorable conditions for NYU students. “I stayed in the dorm because I thought it would be a more sociable atmosphere at a school infamously known for loneliness,” said Jason Dessalet, 21, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. Dessalet explained that although there are more students in proximity, the social limitations of a dorm are degrading. “My friends and I are of age to consume alcohol, but every time we do that at home we have an R.A. knocking on the door with some sort of noise complaint.” Dessalet, along with his roommates are fed up with NYU students and their constant studying, they believe it was a mistake to live in a dorm as juniors. Dessalet added, “Plus I made no new friends this year.”
