Date:  July 1, 2020
To: Applicants for Undergraduate Housing in New York For Fall 2020
From: Neil Hanrahan, Executive Director, Housing Services and Kate Baier, Executive Director, Residential Life

Dear NYU students,

We hope you are well and healthy, and looking forward to the start of the academic year at NYU this fall.

Many of you have told us how much you want to be here, and we are busy planning for just that. However, this is an unprecedented year, and our decision about every facet of campus life is going to be guided, first and foremost, by safety.

Since the decision to reconvene in person on-campus, we know you have been eagerly awaiting more information as to what NYU-NY housing might look like this coming fall semester. We appreciate your patience. During this period, we have been analyzing our housing inventory in light of safety and health planning for 2020-2021; New York State’s recently issued guidance; and also preferences you have expressed, including roommates.

Our aim and expectation is to provide housing to first-year students who have submitted a housing application and reservation payment, as well as to current returning undergraduate students who have successfully completed Phase 1 of the housing reapplication process.

While we are still finalizing some matters, in keeping with our efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we anticipate taking the following steps:

  • Assigning fewer students per floor to reduce the density of our existing residence halls;
  • Securing, as necessary, additional suitable off-campus accommodations to meet the need for additional rooms, consistent with state and local health authority guidance;
  • Setting aside a set of rooms for isolation or quarantine;
  • Ensuring that the University continues to provide a range of options, including lower cost housing.

One result of reducing density is that this year some first-year students may be assigned to residence halls that have traditionally housed sophomores, juniors, and seniors, and vice-versa. Wherever first-years may be housed, they will be assigned with other first-years and our specialized first-year programming will also be available.

For those of you who have not yet designated a roommate and would like to do so, please email Residential Life and Housing Services at housing@nyu.edu with any updated housing preferences.

In addition, while the reasonable housing accommodations application deadline has passed, requests for Housing Accommodations are still possible. Please note, all accommodation approvals are based on availability.

If you have already decided that you do not want NYU-NY housing this fall 2020, we ask you to please cancel your reservation by accessing the Housing Form card on NYUHome, https://housing.nyu.edu/apply.

We anticipate providing you with a housing assignment no later than mid-July; once you have received it, you will still have the opportunity to decline the assignment without penalty. To this end, we are again extending the housing cancellation deadline to July 20, 2020. Students who prefer to secure off-campus housing independent of the University — an option many students explore each year — may find the Off-Campus Living online resources helpful in their search.

Reducing the density in student housing is only one of the actions we are taking to enhance safety and prevent and respond to COVID-19. It is part of NYU’s multi-layered approach, which will include mandatory mask wearing, physical distancing, testing, enhanced cleaning, changes to how we serve meals, and other measures that will act in concert to help safeguard the NYU community’s health. NYU will be communicating more about our safety protocols soon, and you can regularly check our coronavirus web hub for updates.

We appreciate your understanding and continued patience during this unprecedented time. As these last few months have demonstrated to us, things can shift rapidly and disrupt our plans, including with respect to specific housing arrangements and the availability of housing; should that be the case, we will be in touch. In spite of these challenges and uncertainties, we are looking forward to 2020-2021.

In the meantime, please feel free to contact the Residential Life and Housing Services staff at housing@nyu.edu, or by phone at +1-212-998-4600, if you have any questions.