Guards, students say dorm cuts risky

NYU has been quietly cutting security at several high-volume dorms since the end of September.

Posts at Third Avenue North, Water Street, Lafayette Street and Palladium residence halls have been decreased from two guards to one during certain hours of the day and night, Public Safety Vice President Jules Martin said.

'The university is asking every department to look at their operations to see how they can best utilize their resources in the most effective way,' Martin said. 'The question was, 'Do we really need two security guards there, or is it better to have one there who is engaged all the time?' '

For Mike Pidoto, president of Local One Security Officers Union, that's an easy question to answer.

'With buildings that have high volume you are servicing cafeterias and computer labs, and people are walking in and flashing IDs at 30 feet away - that's what that second set of eyes is there for,' said Pidoto, a Public Safety officer at NYU's Barney Building.

Cuts without warning

Prior to the change, NYU's administration had not made any effort to inform either the union or the student leadership of the affected residence halls.

Pidoto said the first time he heard of the cuts was when guards called him to say they had lost control of people trying to enter the dorms.

Martin defended NYU's decision not to consult with students.

'You are talking about security. There is only so much you want to tell people,' Martin said.

His reasoning was a hard sell for some student representatives.

'Since it involves the safety of myself and of my residents, it would have been nice if they had consulted the hall council,' said Matt Askaripour, president of the Third Avenue North government. 'I am sure that whether we have one or two guards matters to many students who live here.'

According to Jonathan Kassa, executive director of Security on Campus, Inc., NYU could have benefited from a dialogue with students.

'It is only going to help your process when you do not make arbitrary decisions and when you include the people who your policy is going to affect,' Kassa said.

Unhappy officers

Pidoto said the union filed grievances against NYU because they were so upset by the cutbacks.

'It feels like we are not getting anywhere. Management does not see it the same way we do. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who sit on the second floor of 7 Washington Pl. [Public Safety headquarters] making decisions even though they are not in the trenches seeing how hard it is to maintain safety,' Pidoto said.

A guard at one lower Manhattan dorm, who spoke on condition of anonymity because officers are prohibited from speaking to the media, said he had heard complaints from fellow Public Safety officers.

'In my opinion, this is the last department they should be cutting,' the guard said.

But Martin said most officers agree with the policy.

'The officers understand that we are engaged in a lot of management adjustment that is for the benefit of the university at large,' he said.

Risks in cutbacks

Under NYU rules, guards cannot leave their desks unmanned. As such, if an RA were to send down word that a fight had broken out in one of the dorm rooms, the lone Public Safety officer would not be able to go up and assist. Instead, that officer must request backup.

Though Martin refused to give an estimate as to the worst-case scenario time for responding to an emergency at one of the residence halls, he said, 'We have never had trouble in responding. It could be two minutes, 10 minutes. It depends on where the guy is.'

But according to Pidoto, additional help might not be so quick to respond.

'We are not emergency responders with sirens who can go through traffic lights. We have to obey the same laws as normal citizens. So when [Martin] says we can respond within minutes, that is not true,' Pidoto said. 'Try four in the afternoon at rush hour and it's just not going to happen. That is where we are saying that these cutbacks become a safety issue.'

In response to repeated student suicides, NYU installed motion sensors on the roofs of its buildings. But if the lone guard is tied down at his post, there is a chance backup could arrive too late.

'The biggest problem for us is the roof,' the dorm guard said. 'If I am alone down here and there is somebody on the roof about to jump, all I can do is call it in.'

Jay Zwicker, NYU's crime prevention manager, offered another solution to the problem of understaffed dorms: If there is an emergency, just call the police.

'We have eight police precincts that cover the footprint of NYU,' Zwicker said. 'In the rare circumstances where we need to contact the police, we have the understanding and they have the understanding of the emergency that's attached to that response.'

Taking all these considerations in mind, Martin sought to reassure the community that there are no gaps in the university's security.

'These changes are made without the loss of safety,' Martin said.

Pidoto remains skeptical.

'I'm surprised that a person [with] 28 years in the police department has that [opinion],' said Pidoto, referring to Martin's tenure at the New York Police Department. 'We are trying to prevent something from happening, and it's like management is stacking the deck against us.'

Joe Yerardi is on the investigative team. E-mail him at jyerardi@nyunews.com.