Independent Housing Problems

Early this summer, Yeshiva University decided to consolidate all Independent Housing Program (IHP) apartments into 475 West 186th Street. The rather unanticipated move has resulted in the loss of sixteen apartments from the Independent Housing Program - fifteen from 90 Laurel Hill Terrace and one from 480 W 187th Street. Under the direction of Mr. William Martino, Director of Housing Services, Manhattan Campuses Yeshiva University, the sixteen former IHP apartments are being rented to married students and Yeshiva University alumni. The apartments are being renovated to accommodate prospective renters looking for operational kitchens and cleaner, newer living spaces.

This decision has resulted in the rejection of around fifty students from IHP. With all of IHP in one building, 475 will eventually resemble a regular YU dormitory, complete with a security desk in the lobby and several resident advisors throughout the building.

Not surprisingly, the consolidation has frustrated many students rejected from IHP. The Housing Department has been trying to help students who have been adversely affected by the move. "It is very hard to call a student to inform him that he will not be in IHP when he was planning on living in an IHP apartment," said Jonathon Mantell, Director of Student Housing. "We are doing everything we can to accommodate the students." The decision to consolidate has been made by upper administration, and as a result, the Housing Department has been unable to prevent the large reduction of IHP and the rejection of its applicants.

Among couples and alumni, demand for YU housing is high-in the beginning of the summer there was a fifty person waiting list for available apartments. In fact, as of May 1st, YU has rented out fifty-nine apartments in the general campus area. To increase available apartments, YU is turning to what was formerly designated as IHP, namely 480 W. 187th and 90 Laurel Hill Terrace.

According to Mr. Jeffry Rosengarten, Vice President for Administrative Services, when YU first began purchasing apartments for IHP, the long-term goal was to transform 475 into a dorm building. Several years ago, YU experienced an increase in enrollment and subsequently ran out of dorm space. The university responded by purchasing apartments in 90 Laurel Hill Terrace and filling them with overflow students, but Mr. Rosengarten asserts that "IHP was only a temporary solution to the dorm crisis. It does not exist unless there is an overflow from the dorms."

Several factors convinced the upper staff that this temporary solution had run its due course.

The high degree of vacancies in university dorms last year was one of the more pressing issues for the Facilities Department. Mr. Rosengarten estimates that there were as many as one hundred empty beds last semester. By reducing IHP by sixteen apartments, YU forced would-be apartment residents to fill those vacancies.

Mr. Rosengarten and Dr. Victor Schwartz, Dean of Students, also stressed the importance of cultivating a community on campus. Whereas a group of several married couples living in 90 Laurel Hill Terrace is conducive to "cultivating a community," dispersing undergraduate students throughout Laurel Hill Terrace is not. Furthermore, according to Rosengarten and Schwartz, dorms play a central role in the campus community and only by consolidating IHP into one building can IHP contribute to campus life.

Additionally, the high demand among couples and alumni for housing near the Wilf campus presents a lucrative market that the university cannot overlook. If the estimated fifty students that were rejected from IHP this summer move to other dormitories on campus-a safe assumption as most of them were informed of their rejection no earlier than orientation-YU can retain the revenue coming from the room and board of these students while collecting additional rent from couples and alumni now residing in the former IHP apartments. These couples are renting the apartments for approximately $1200 per month, which is about 50% more than students were paying.

Notwithstanding the apparent need to consolidate IHP, many students have been left frustrated by the decision. If each of the sixteen apartments that were removed from IHP holds at least three beds, YU has reduced IHP by at least 48 beds. This summer, the Housing Department rejected around fifty students from IHP. If the consolidation never occurred, therefore, most of the rejected applicants would have found homes in building 475, building 480, or 90 Laurel Hill Terrace. "This is the stupidest thing YU could do," says one rejected student who wished to remain anonymous. "To know that they have all these people in IHP and to close them out...they should be accommodating students first." This anonymous student resided in IHP the previous semester, and, under normal circumstances, he would have been accepted into IHP this semester as well. Not so after the consolidation, where tens of students are losing apartment space to couples and alumni.

Adding to the discontent, an alarming number of students have complained of losing property that they stored in IHP apartments over the summer. Despite the fact that YU prohibits students from storing belongings in IHP apartments, YU administrators claim that "reaching-out to students in these situations constitutes standard protocol." In other words, under YU's policy, belongings are not confiscated or discarded until students are notified and given a date by which their property must be removed. This summer, however, students have reported losing thousands of dollars of property without warning or ultimatum from the university.

One former 90 Laurel Hill Terrace resident, Yossi Bajtner, SSSB '09, has lost hundreds of dollars in belongings, from books to an air conditioner. "YU should have done something before taking action," Bajtner says, "They need to give people a chance to get their stuff back." Bajtner and others are also frustrated with YU's response to the situation-YU has done little to help retrieve the property that was lost and has offered no explanation for the unexpected property purges.

The consolidation of IHP and the immense loss of student property are only the most recent sources of disappointment for students living in university apartments or dorms. The university's policy to restrict oven usage in IHP apartments by turning off the gas pilots has often elicited student complaints. The university claims that the stoves are too old and therefore dangerous for student use, citing a past incident where a stove malfunctioned, resulting in a serious fire. Students, however, are less convinced that it is strictly a safety issue, given that apartments in 90 Laurel Hill Terrace and 480 W. 187th Street have been outfitted with newer ovens in order to accommodate safer kitchen usage. Coupled with the fact that apartments on the Beren campus are fully equipped with modern ovens, the recent renovations for couples and alumni bolsters student contentions that YU has not accommodated Wilf campus student apartments sufficiently.

Students living in Muss, Morgenstern, and Rubin also feel slighted by the renovation of the former IHP apartments. In recent years, several complaints have been voiced concerning the dorms' facilities. Students are unhappy, for example, with the lack of air conditioning in the dorms and the prohibition on installing a window unit. Before this fall, the dorm lounges lacked wireless capabilities, and some students feel that each dorm room should be provided with wireless internet as well. In the past, wavering water temperatures and the lack of water pressure were notorious issues for the showers in the Muss dormitory. These problems become more troubling as the number of IHP apartments is reduced and renovations are carried out for couples and alumni living in 480 W. 187th Street and 90 Laurel Hill Terrace.