"New York University is known for bestowing lavish perks on its leaders.
Its new president, Andrew Hamilton, will be no exception.
Anticipating his January arrival from the University of Oxford, where he has been vice chancellor, N.Y.U. has been completely renovating a 4,200-square-foot penthouse duplex with four bedrooms, four and a half bathrooms and an expansive rooftop terrace.
The apartment is in a landmark building at 37 Washington Square West in Greenwich Village, and it will be Dr. Hamilton’s residence, a university spokesman said.
Described by the university as “swanky” in its prior incarnation as a ceremonial presidential home, the apartment will be more opulent after the transformation, which includes moving a staircase and some existing walls and installing a new kitchen.
The cost?At least $1.1 million, possibly double — raising questions as N.Y.U. and other universities are under pressure to control costs and high tuition. ...
[L]iberal spending has become increasingly controversial as college tuition and student debt increases, particularly at institutions like N.Y.U. that are not known for generous aid packages. Loans for N.Y.U. faculty vacation homes created an outcry in 2013.
And this September, a group of students, faculty members and neighborhood residents staged a protest opposing an expansion plan, calling it fiscally irresponsible in light of the university’s tuition and its students’ debt, both ranked among the highest in the country. ...
The New York Times disclosed in 2013 that top N.Y.U. administrators and faculty members had been extended loans at extremely favorable terms — in some cases forgiving them over time — for vacation homes in the Hamptons and on Fire Island, where John Sexton, the departing president, had a $1 million university loan for a beach house..."
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