NYU steps up security on campus after several incidents of dorm intrusions
MANHATTAN, New York (WABC) -- Security is being stepped up in and around the campus of New York University after recent incidents of dorm intrusions.
Students returned from Thanksgiving break to find additional security at NYU, with NYPD cruisers outside Washington Square Park and campus security teams watching the dorms.
In the latest incident, a young man was ejected from the university's off-campus dorm on Lafayette Street after bolting a turnstile checkpoint in the building's lobby.
Sophomore Lizzie Montgomery is one of several students who live there.
"It feels like it's, like, a rare event to happen. But then it's happened at multiple dorms within a short period of time," Montgomery said. "So that's just, something's weird about that."
Before this semester, intruders were uncommon at NYU.
In September of last year there were six reports. However, this year there were seven.
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There were seven reports for October of 2021, but that number jumped to 11 in 2022. There were just four reported in November of last year, but 16 in November of this year. That's a total increase of 100% this semester over the same period in 2021.
In the most recent incident, a female student said she was followed through the building before locking her bedroom door and calling campus security.
Five days earlier, a student awoke to find a stranger standing in the student's bedroom in an off-campus dorm on Third Avenue.
"The recent incidents of unauthorized intruders gaining access are troubling to the University," a spokesman said. "And we take them very seriously. Despite the very considerable measures we already take, we need to learn from these incidents and correct any gaps in coverage or mistakes."
It's unclear if police are looking for the same suspect or if different criminals are involved.
"There's a lot of students getting upset about it, and they've been reaching out to the school for answers, especially parents, too, because it's their kids that live here," NYU sophomore Naomi Portillo said.
"We're definitely aware of what's been happening, and just kind of making sure that we're checking around us and always being safe," Montgomery said.
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