The upscale Affinia Hotel, known for its comfort and ambiance, has a new guest: the NYU student.
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The university announced in August that a shortage in NYU housing would force the university to place up to 250 students in a hotel.
At the start of Welcome Week, 38 students had been temporarily placed on the fifth floor of the Affinia located on Seventh Avenue and 31st Street. As of last Friday, 10 of these students were moved to permanent housing within NYU residence halls.
According to Tom Ellett, associate vice president of student affairs, all displaced students had either returned to the housing system after having pulled out or had not met all of the housing deadlines.
Each room in the Affinia has a kitchenette and students will have access to the hotel's cable TV, wireless Internet, air conditioning, gym facilities and cleaning services twice a week.
A van that seats 15 will shuttle students to and from the Affinia every 50 minutes, said Fred Barlow, assistant director for university transportation.
Two RAs have also been temporarily placed on the third floor to monitor students and enforce university policies. All NYU residential policies will apply to the students living in the Affinia, and after 10 p.m. students will be required to sign in guests before using the elevator.
The university signed a three-week contract with the hotel that will expire on Sept. 26. Ellett does not expect the need to extend the housing agreement.
The choice to house students in the midtown hotel was partially rooted in the timing of the situation. Many hotels closer to the Village were sold out because of events such as the U.S. Open and back-to-school season.
"It's a really high time for tourists so we had to deal with what we could get," Ellett said.
