Dozens Of Healthcare Workers Staying In NYU Dorms, School Says

WEST VILLAGE, MANHATTAN — Dozens of healthcare workers fighting the coronavirus have moved into one of New York University's empty residence halls and will likely take over another in the coming weeks rent-free, the school announced.

Workers from the school's own NYU Langone Health hospital network began moving into the Third Avenue North Residence Hall on Monday and had taken over dozens of rooms by the weekend, the university said on its website Saturday morning.

It is the first of three buildings the school plans to open to healthcare workers. The Carlyle residence hall will be available for NYU healthcare workers next week and another dorm building, Alumni Hall, is being looked at by the city for workers from other hospitals, officials said.

"With so many people doing so much to battle COVID-19, the University feels a responsibility to assist where it can," the university said when first announcing the plan last week.

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New York University officially closed its campus March 22 and is conducting all classes remotely for the rest of the semester.

All but a small group of students have moved out of the residence halls and were given housing refunds by the school, the university said.

Saturday's announcement also included information about dozens of fees that the university will refund for its students, most of which were for Tisch School of the Arts classes.

The art school made headlines late last month when its dean responded to students plea for refunded tuition with a bizarre video of herself dancing to "Losing My Religion." Tuition costs are still not included in the schools list of refunds.

Students have contended that classes via video chat, particularly for drama students where in-person exercises are especially important, are not worth the same $58,552-plus tuition the art school students pay per semester.

Nearly 5,000 students from Tisch have also signed an online petition asking for the partial refunds.

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