<p>My new roommate recently moved into my dorm and informed me not to be alarmed when I see her "small child running around". Her child is four and after talking to NYU Housing, can stay up to 6 nights per month!!! Technically according to this policy, the child could stay every Friday night + two Saturday nights a month. Isn't that partial custody? Also, the kid can be signed in during the day, everyday, according to the policy. NYU Housing doesn't see any difference as to her having her child stay the night or me having an adult guest stay the night. She then asked me to sign a "Guest Pass" that would allow the four year old to stay here 6 consecutive nights this week because of an emergency situation. NYU Housing told me to be "compromise". In my opinion, why should I be the one to compromise? What happened to enjoying the college experience? Think twice before signing that NYU housing contract!!!</p>
<p>is it bad having a child around…?</p>
<p>I feel uncomfortable with this situation for many reasons, the first being that I am a student and I don’t feel that I should be subjected to this kind of living arrangement. The fact is that this is housing provided by the university for students. For me personally, the $50,000 + annual cost to attend NYU has been a huge financial burden for my family, and that is an understatement. I feel that a degree from NYU is worth it, hence my presence here, but with that being said, my focus is on my education and being a successful student. How can I be a successful student if a child is running around my study space? I assume this resident isn’t allowed to bring her son to class, as it would be an obvious distraction, which is precisely my point. Being at such a high caliber institution comes with a certain level of stress. The workload is heavy and so is the pressure to do well. Why is it that I now have to deal with added stress and pressure in my living environment? Believe me, I understand the new resident’s predicament and I am sympathetic to her struggle to juggle so many aspects of life, but I don’t feel that it is just for me to be facing consequences related to her life decisions. I don’t understand the act of accommodating her without any thought as to how this directly affects me, who is also a resident. </p>
<p>I feel uncomfortable with the issue of liability. Who is responsible if this child manages to open the medicine cabinet and overdose on my medication or ingests cleaning substances? Who is responsible if this child slips in the hallway or the bathtub and sustains life threatening injuries? Who is going to stop the child from opening the refrigerator and drinking my bottle of wine? These are the thoughts running through my head. I now have to change the way I live my life due to the fact that a child will be a frequent guest in the apartment? I cannot risk the legal consequences due to my lack of experience with children in my living environment, which is a reasonable lack of experience.</p>
<p>According to the Guest Policy, the child can be a short-term guest as much as everyday. Also according to the Guest Policy, the minor can stay for up to 3 consecutive nights, totaling no more than 6 nights a month. The resident has already asked for my signature for a Guest Pass, as well as a permission slip for the child to stay a total of 6 consecutive nights beginning tomorrow night. What kind of policy is put in place to protect me from her having numerous emergencies in which the child needs to stay for an extended period of time? I asked how often she planned to have her son stay here during the spring semester and I was told probably about two weekends a month. The weekend is the only time that I don’t have class/work, as well as the only time I have to complete assignments. In accordance with the Guest Policy, she could potentially have her son here every weekend if she wanted. That is by definition partial custody. I pay $8,340 a semester for my living space and I was never informed of the possibility of me having to frequently share that space with another student and her child.</p>
<p>In my opinion, a college dorm is no place for a four year old to be staying, and it is absolutely unheard of to me of any institute of higher education to be following such a policy.</p>
<p>I sympathize with your concerns. But it is not a “custody” issue, which is a legal term with very specific meaning. Don’t worry about that–worry about what you can do to minimize the impact of the situation.</p>
<p>One thing I think you can do right off the bat is make clear to your roommate that it is HER responsibility to “child-proof” the dorm room and that you do not plan to follow her kid around making sure he isn’t hurting himself. Beyond that, there’s probably not much you can do. NYU is more “expensive” than it is “high caliber” in terms of how it treats its students, from what I have gathered from the students I know who go there. They don’t seem very sympathetic to a lot of the challenges students face.</p>
<p>I love children, but would not be happy about this as a student. I totally empathize with your situation, but I have no idea what you can do about it. I hope the child is well behaved and can play quietly. I think you will have to work out a quiet schedule for this to work and be totally upfront about your concerns.</p>
<p>There’s nothing your roommate did that goes against the NYU Housing policy. Overnight stays can be extended upon approval from NYU Housing, which your roommate did obtain. You could have expressed yourself by not signing the guest pass, but you did. Your situation has nothing to do with how much you pay NYU for housing and everything to do with familiarizing yourself with the guest policy.</p>
<p>That is exactly my point. The housing policy is not adequate for a college dorm in regards to students with children. I actually DID NOT sign the guest pass, but yet the child still stayed overnight last night. I will specify that my problem is not with the roommate, it is with the housing policy!</p>
<p>Totally inappropriate for a 4 year old child to be in a dorm room. I would make a huge stink. Why would the father allow this?</p>
<p>Unfortunately, that is the policy of the dorms, and if you signed that dorm agreement you are subject only to the protections that it includes. If your roommate wants ANYBODY as her guest, she can unless there is a reason in the housing agreement that is violated. THere are a lot of problems with this even when the guest is not a child. It is, I agree, unusual, that the guest is a child, but it is within the scope of what is permitted. If you do not like what the housing policy permits and does not permit, you find other housing. For now, what you can do is let your roommate know that you how you feel and that you do not want the child here for any time except what is permitted by the housing contract without exception and let the housing office know the same, to minimize having the child there. I suggest you buy a trunk with a lock and keep your valuable in there. That’s if yo want to be hardline about it and stick to the bare minimum of what is permitted under the contract.</p>
<p>As to what you feel is right about the contract and the cost of NYU, it isn’t relevant as to what your roommate is permitted to do, or you are permitted to do, or NOT, for that matter. You break the rules, that’s one thing. But within them it’s permitted. You don’t like roommate’s SO, you are afraid of him, suspect him of thievery, he smells bad, you find yourself sexiled, too bad as long as it is done within the framework of the rules of the dorm. But if your roommate does anything that is against dorm/apt policies, that is a whole other thing, and NYU has a consequences to that sort of thing. Make sure you “vet” your roommate for next year, because there is a whole lot of give in terms of what the rights are. If you had rented a place off campus with this particular roommate, not knowing about a child and not coming up with provisions about living provisions, you could well have the child over even more unless the lease specifically addresses visitors.</p>
<p>This may be a way to get out of this-NYC safety laws:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycha/downloads/pdf/window_guards_july2005.pdf[/url]”>http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycha/downloads/pdf/window_guards_july2005.pdf</a></p>
<p>There must be safety bars on windows. What if the kid fell? NYUwould be liable. </p>
<p>This is so ridiculous that you may need a lawyer to read contract. Send me personal email</p>
<p>The kid can’t fall. Have you ever been inside an NYU dorm? The windows open two inches. It’s perfectly in line with the safety law.</p>
<p>My husband the attorney said it is definitely illegal to have a child under 12 or 11 above the 1st floor without window guards. Report it to the NYC Building department. Additionally, it is an inappropriate environment for a 4 year old and you would have the right to report it to Social Services. And you should notify the legal department of the university. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Ahh I read about this in NYU local… I sympathize completely and hope you’re able to get through to housing authorities. You have every right not to be distracted by a kid running around. Good luck!</p>
<p>According to the twitosphere, the roommate has been moved to a single.</p>
<p>In the article you quote $8340 for a semester for a shared room, and on NYU’s site that is the price for a single room. Were you overcharged?</p>
<p>This situation is despicable. Only when OP went public, did NYU try to resolve. Before that the Residence Director said communicate, compromise. No one pays 60G to have their kid be an unpaid babysitter. This is the ulimate example of an RD who won’t do his job. RDs everywhere have to stop with this nonsense, and understand that people are paying good money for dorms, and this type of nonsense has to stop.</p>
<p>Glad you went public. Saw Huffington Post. You were put in a very uncomfortable position and the resident directors did not do their job.</p>