The NYPD responded to reports of an intruder at Alumni Hall and Coral Tower dorms.
File photo: The Coral Tower is located on the northeast corner of the intersection between East 14th Street and Third Avenue.
On Tuesday, Nov. 1, a man not affiliated with NYU evaded security and entered Alumni Hall and the Coral Tower. The unidentified perpetrator was removed from Alumni Hall by campus security. Officers then reported the incident to the New York Police Department around 9 p.m. Tuesday.
Later that night, police were called to Coral Tower at around 11pm. They removed the same attacker from the hostel before taking him to the hospital. There was no statement to the police.
A Coral Tower resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they were not taken seriously when they told NYU campus security that they may have come into contact with an intruder in the building.
“He said, ‘Well, there’s really nothing we can do,'” the resident said. “Then he said, ‘This is New York — you can be harassed, and that’s the reality of life here.’
The resident said officers told them they could not confirm the person the student saw was the intruder. They added that they were discouraged from reporting the incident to the NYPD by a campus security officer who said the police would not respond because the student was not injured.
“It was more lenient with both officers,” the resident said. “I should be able to come to them, and I don’t think I should be met with that kind of response.”
Neither dormitory notified its residents until Nov. 3, two days after the incident occurred. Jade Wicker, a resident of Alumni Hall, said she believes students should be told about incidents like this as soon as they happen.
“I already meant that there is a lack of security in the buildings,” Wicker said. “I’ve felt it since freshman year. This once again confirms the feeling that it is not very safe here.”
Alumni Hall administrators sent an email to residents saying the intruder entered the dormitory and entered the office premises in the building. After the security of the student campus discovered the criminal in the dormitory, the police escorted him out.
Coral Tower staff also informed residents that an intruder had entered a dormitory and common areas in the building. Brett Boffo, director of the Coral Tower dormitory, told residents that the intruder was the same person who broke into Alumni Hall.
“NYU students have a right to feel safe in the residence halls they call home, so we find the news of an attacker accessing Alumni Hall and Queen’s Tower particularly troubling,” university spokeswoman Shaunna Keoghan told WSN. “We are conducting a thorough review of exactly how these events occurred in order to take appropriate action to prevent this from happening again.”
According to Keoghan, the NYU incident report described the assailant as “a black male, 5-foot-5, wearing dark shoes.”
Residents of the Royal Tower have been instructed to keep their doors locked and to contact campus security if they witness any unusual activity.
last semester an intruder entered Rubin Hall — NYU dorm at 35 Fifth Ave – at least three times. According to several residents, from April 6 to 10, he stayed twice in the dormitory’s living rooms. The attacker claimed to be a graduate studentt and came into contact with several students. He also followed several female students as they left the dormitory. Campus Security later apologized to residents for their handling of the incident, and Fountain Walker, head of campus security, said the department didn’t make it in his reply.
Contact Lauren Ash at [email protected]
