International- Expensive dorms at New York City's The New School have been beset with fires, sprinkler floods, and gas leaks.
- Rooms at the school's 301 Residence Hall cost up to $27,550.
Dorm rooms that cost $27,000 per year at an affluent New York City private university have been beset with flooding, fires, and gas leaks in the past month, disgruntled students say.
The high-end dorms at 301 Residence Hall in Manhattan have experienced several mishaps over the past month that have displaced more than 500 students at The New School who live in the building, according to The New York Post.
"It pisses me off because I'm paying so much money that this should not be happening," Liora Gold, a freshman at the school told the outlet.
The New School describes itself on its website as "a new kind of university" where "scholars, artists, and designers come together to challenge convention and create positive change."
In November, the school's faculty went on strike to demand better health care, prompting students to protest on December 8 for tuition refunds and "A" grades for every student impacted by the strike, The Post reported.
Dorm rooms at the school's 301 Residence Hall can cost up to $27,550 for a single room in a suite with four to five other people for a full academic year. The cheapest rooms cost $18,260 for a triple room, according to the school's housing website.
According to the university's housing license agreement, if a student decides to vacate their dorm, it does not cancel the housing licensing agreement. If a student decides to move out without canceling the agreement, they will still "be responsible for the full annual cost of housing," the agreement says.
Gold was with her roommate on April 2 when she heard what sounded like an explosion coming from above their room, she told The Post.
A small fire in a kitchen one floor up from Gold caused the building's sprinkler system to go off, blasting what the students described as brown "diarrhea water" into rooms and forcing Gold and others to relocate, the outlet reported.
The fire was caused by a student who left a pot on the stove, according to The Post.
When water sits in stagnant sprinkler pipes for long periods of time — microbiological influences corrosion (MIC) — can cause the water to become "rank, sludgy, and discolored," according to Quick Response Fire Supply.
Gold moved back into the building one week after the sludge water caused her to evacuate, but a gas leak caused a mass exodus of the building's tenants just the next day, she told The Post.
"I was definitely very frustrated and very stressed out," Gold told the outlet.
Another student living in the building, Ellis Gatewood, told The Post that living inside the building has impacted her mental health.
"My life has just been dealing with where I'm going to sleep every night," she told the outlet. "I just want stability."
The New School told Insider that it offered a "daily shuttle service to and from campus, free seven-day metro cards, supplemental dining and meal options" to displaced students in a statement.
"We understand how disruptive these incidents have been to our students and moved quickly to ensure they had the support and resources necessary during this time period," statement said.