An abbreviated version of this article appeared in our October print issue.
On Jan. 15, 2014, The New School was preparing to finally open its brand new University Center for the spring semester after an enduring four year construction process. In the early morning of that Wednesday, a water main broke at the intersection of Fifth Ave and 13th Street, flooding the below-ground levels of the building. For the next 18 months, the lecture halls were closed and students living in the Kerrey Hall dormitories had no access to the laundry and gym amenities, while 75,000-square-feet of the University Center was being rebuilt. For Roy Moskowitz, this time was the defining period of a long and distinguished career.
Now, Moskowitz keeps a mug displaying a blueprint of the University Center on his desk — a reminder of what he considers to be one of the greatest achievements and challenges of his 12 years at The New School. Moskowitz began his tenure at the university in 2006, assuming the title of Chief Legal Officer.
In 2011, President David Van Zandt came into office and asked Moskowitz to extend his responsibilities to overseeing all real estate matters, facilities, security, governmental relations, and serving as the Secretary of the Corporation. This included the task of completing the University Center both on time and under budget, both of which were eventually achieved.
Moskowitz, a fiscally-minded Queens native who grew up in Long Island, sits in his office on the eighth floor of the 80 Fifth Ave building surrounded by second-hand furniture, all from prior officers of the university. He is preparing to leave the position of Chief Legal Officer of the university — a chapter in his over 30 year professional career in education.
Just as Moskowitz will surely leave a void, his impact will just as surely prove long-lasting. On his bookshelf, Moskowitz keeps a book that details the plan for an investment in which he had a key role. Two years ago, The New School bought a five-story, 180,000-square-foot building at 34-42 West 14th St. for $153 million, which will not be available to the university for at least 10 years.
As Moskowitz prepares to leave the position he’s held for 12 years, the New School Free Press sat down to talk with him about some of the stand-out moments in his career. The following interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
The New School recently bought a building on 14th Street, but it remains unused. Why is it in the university’s interest to own this building?
The benefits are long-term. The space around here is very expensive and scarce and most buildings are not well suited to be instructional spaces. What you need for an instructional space are high ceilings and big open rooms, and the buildings in Greenwich Village are mostly short and small, so they don’t lend themselves well to being used as classrooms. The 14th Street building, however, is a former industrial building, so it has big open spaces.
Did this investment have any financial impact on the university?
No. We were able to buy a building in the neighborhood at a price that has had no financial impact of the university because it’s currently leased to commercial entities. They pay rent, which defrays the costs of buying the building. We currently rent 79 Fifth Ave, which is a much more expensive proposition for an education institution because we pay real estate taxes. By owning the 14th Street building, we save literally millions of dollars per year by not paying those taxes. So, in 2028, the current plan is to move from 79 5th Ave to 14th Street.
Why are you leaving your position as Chief Legal Officer?
When I first took the job in 2006, President Kerrey interviewed me for the position and I said to him at the time that I would only remain in the position for ten years. I’ve been at this job for 12 years, so I’ve overstayed because the work I’ve found to be very rewarding both professionally and personally.
What is your next step in your career path?
One of the things is that I’m planning on teaching law here at the university. One of the things I did previously in my career was teach law to graduate students at the Bank Street College of Education for ten years. I’ve been in education my entire professional career, which is over 30 years.
Besides your significant role in the university’s real estate matters, what are some of the other highlights during your time here?
There are some highlights of my job that certainly don’t sound like highlights. One of the things I do is defend the university, so for me to say we’ve won a case that has ensured that the university doesn’t have to pay damages, that doesn’t sound particularly appealing or attractive and that makes sense.
How has the legal office changed throughout the course of your tenure at the university?
During the 12 years that I’ve been here, the university has grown from an operation from $200 million per year as a company to somewhere around $400 million per year. What does that mean? It means that we hire more staff, we hire more professors, buy more goods, and all of these things have legal implications. During this time that we have, in effect, doubled our operating costs, we have not hired any additional personnel to the legal office. So, we’ve managed to service the increasing needs of the university without it costing any more money to the university. That doesn’t sound particularly glamorous but it’s something I’m proud of in terms of a professional achievement.
We just reached a contract about retaining cafeteria workers. Did they retain the same benefits under the last plan?
The short answer is yes. The contract that was in effect last year has been extended and those terms and conditions continue to apply. The Local 100 employees are able to operate under the same, and in some instances, improved conditions than what they have from the prior year.
What protections can The New School realistically provide to undocumented immigrants here, given that the federal government’s authority trumps that of a college?
[laughs] Well, I don’t know if you meant to use the word “trumps,” but there are a variety of things that we can do and have been doing to assist students who are currently undocumented. I know that a lot of work has been going on at the New School for Social Research about this and I know it’s an issue of real concern to the university. We have pledged to do what we can within the bounds of the law about this. There are no law enforcement authorities that we permit on university campus without first contacting our Director of Security.
You mentioned that you envision these negotiations [with SENS-UAW] ending soon with a contract. Do you have any proposed timelines? Is there a deadline that you foresee?
We do not have any proposed timelines. We have, I think, communicated both publicly and within the negotiations our desire to achieve a contract as soon as possible. But we have not put any hard and fast deadline on them.
In your opinion, why do you think The New School keeps having these issues with unions, such as protests and occupations?
I actually have a different view on that. The New School was the third private university in The United States that was petitioned to create a union for student workers and I think the reason for that is that The New School has a tradition of trying to be fair and equitable to people. So, it’s a logical place for unions to come, and the same is true for part-time faculty. It’s a place where unions who are seeking to organize a particular group of people would likely come to establish a precedent, if you will, and take that and go elsewhere, for example, to other universities. I’m not surprised by these incidents because I think they know that on some level, they will get a receptive and supportive response to something like that.
I’m sure you’ve heard about the mold infestation of the 13th St dormitory building that forced an evacuation of the building. How is The New School legally responsible for that incident?
Well, that is one of the buildings that we own, so the responsibility for the conditions of that dormitory, as well as all of the other buildings that we own, rests with the university. I think we’ve responded appropriately when we became aware of the condition and we took immediate action to safeguard the wellbeing and health, not only of the students who live there, but the people who are working there. The next step will be to make sure that the mold is remediated before anyone moves back in.
In what ways is the university responsible for preventing the mold in the first place?
We have a buildings department that is responsible for cleaning and maintaining all of our buildings, and in the ordinary course, they clean and maintain the buildings. We test regularly and while mold is not a normal protocol, it is now. We’ve begun testing all buildings and take our charge seriously. I think we can say quite proudly that the condition of our buildings compared to many other universities in New York City is quite good.
I would like to ask about a filing in the Manhattan Supreme Court by Emanuele Castano in attempt to sue The New School for $10.35 million in damages. How has the legal office responded to that?
So, I’ve read about those releases too. We have not been served with any complaints about that. I don’t mean to suggest that it’s made-up. We know that there has been a file reserved.
What does a file reserved mean?
It means exactly that. Mr. Castano, at this point, has retained counsel and his counsel has notified the court that they have an intention to do it. It doesn’t mean they are obligated to do it, but we have not been served with any legal papers at the present time. So, I can’t comment on the substance of the complaint because I haven’t seen it.
After Castano resigned from The New School following the allegations against him and was hired by Stanford, was there any contact between our university’s Title IX office and Stanford’s?
To the best of my knowledge, Stanford did not contact us about this before they made a decision to hire him.
We just received a new sexual misconduct policy. What was deficient about last year’s policy that makes this one better?
The policy that was in effect last year was actually a policy that was developed many years ago. The policy is an improvement but it’s not finalized yet. It’s still subject to change and folks like you could say that you want further changes made, which I think is a healthy idea.
Was there an effort to change the policy because of the allegations against Castano or would you say the changes in cultural norms and state and federal laws made more of an impact?
They made much more of an impact.
So, what do you think has improved the most or changed the most during your time here and what still needs work?
The university has changed significantly over the past decade. I remember when I came here, The New School was known as a place where people would come to take a course or two and not necessarily enrolling. Now, the majority of the work we do here is much more in the vein of a traditional university.
What do you think are the biggest legal issues on the horizon that this university should be thinking about?
Many of the legal issues that are in front of us are of a national nature and by that, I mean sexual misconduct. We are going to see more of it, there’s no doubt in my mind. One of the biggest problems of sexual harassment and assault in this country is its failure to be reported. As it becomes destigmatized, I think more people will feel comfortable in coming forward, whether it’s to make sure that the person who did it never has the opportunity to do it again or to make sure that the injuries and damages they suffered are fairly corrected. We’ve taken a lot of positive steps but I think there is more work to be done. That’s a big area that we are going to have to watch out for.
Is there anything else?
The other big area is the cost of education. There are no easy answers to how we address that but something has to give here. We can’t keep coming to our students and asking them to pay more. We have costs, and we have to figure out how to pay for those costs, but we can’t keep looking to students to support those costs. So, I think that’s a huge issue not only nationally, but for the New School as well, to figure out how we’ll be able to deliver quality educational services to our students but to do so in a way that is financially manageable for the people who are here.
Photo by Orlando Mendiola