NYU Continues Time-Honored Tradition of Pouring Money Into Lavish Apartments
New York University, both the city’s largest school and its largest land-grabber, is finally ending its long tradition of awarding top administrators with lavish real estate. Just kidding—it’s actually doing the exact opposite.
As the Manhattan-based university prepares to welcome new president Andrew Hamilton, formerly of the University of Oxford, the school is continuing the sacrosanct tradition of awarding incredibly expensive housing to top faculty members. Upon arrival in January, Hamilton will settle into a 4,200-square-foot, four-bedroom penthouse duplex on Washington Square in Greenwich Village. The apartment, complete with four and a half bathrooms and a rooftop terrace, is currently undergoing renovations that should amount to at least $1.1 million, according to The New York Times:
The 19th and topmost floor of the building will be turned into a master-bedroom suite, where Dr. Hamilton will have private exits — one from the bedroom and one from the bathroom — onto a terrace overlooking Washington Square and, to the south, the financial district skyline, according to documents filed with the city.
This is far from the first time that NYU has faced allegations over the unwise allocation of university funds—in 2013, reports surfaced that the school had offered several faculty “stars” attractive loans to buy vacation homes and forgiving mortgage payments to others. The school has also had a fraught relationship with the outgoing president, John Sexton, who has been accused of orchestrating an ill-advised expansion while students struggle to pay their tuition.
Speaking of which, NYU is holding strong in third place for the most expensive colleges in the nation, with tuition and fees up to $65,860 per year. Wonder how many students’ tuitions that roofdeck is worth?
