I just got an email, seemingly from NYU, but when I clicked on the portal link it directed me to shibboleth.nyu.edu - I thought it was a strange web address and I just wanted to make sure that this is the real NYU portal. Thanks for any help
Yep 
NYU uses the shibboleth service for all the web apps, so that if you log into one (let’s say NYU Home) it also logs you into NYU Classes and Albert (until your session expires). So yes, that’s the legit portal.
Thanks very much, I was pretty sure it was but just wanted to double check!