The Stuyvesant Park Residence Hall is set to close at the end of the academic year to undergo renovations.
The New School purchased the residence hall for $124.5 million in March of 2022 ahead of the end of its long-term lease in order to update and renovate the dorms. The building will remain closed for the fall 2023/spring 2024 academic year and will reopen for the fall 2024 semester. The university will share information about their plans for alternative housing as they are finalized.
The Stuyvesant Park Residence Hall — often referred to as just “Stuy” — is the largest New School residential building and serves as the one of the dorms for freshman students. 301 Residence, which was opened a year ago, is another dorm building that primarily houses first-year students and also has a lease.
Located at 318 East 15th St. in Greenwich Village, Stuyvesant Hall houses around 635 residents — primarily first-years— and consists of single, double, and triple suites. It also offers a community lounge, a reading room, an art studio, music rooms, and a gym.
Since its opening in 2009, the Stuyvesant Park Residence has played an important role in fostering a community among the freshmen class.
Rumors about Stuy closing have been circulating since the beginning of the fall 2022 semester as the new freshman class voiced complaints about poor living conditions inside the dorms. Students have cited a range of concerns such as mold in AC vents, and rat and mice infestation.
The New School housing department has been receiving mold-related complaints from residents of the Stuyvesant Park Residence as recently as spring of 2022.
Some students feared that Stuyvesant Residence would suffer the same fate as the 13th Street Residence — a New School freshman dormitory that was closed down in 2018 due to mold infestation. The residents of 13th Street dorms were abruptly relocated to different locations around New York City in the middle of the academic year. The building was initially set to reopen the following semester after the mold was removed but remained closed for three years until The New School sold it in 2021 for $23 million.
The Stuyvesant Park Residence will close at the conclusion of the spring 2023 semester, a university spokesperson confirmed. The building will undergo a complete renovation, including, new kitchens, bathrooms, HVAC system, windows, plumbing, and furniture, New School spokesperson Merrie Snead said.
The dorms are set to reopen just in time to welcome a new freshmen class in the fall of 2024, Snead added.