- Over 2,500 students arrived at
NYU 's dorms on Tuesday and Wednesday to quarantine for two weeks before fall classes start. - The
school had told students they would provide them with three meals a day. - However, students have shared on TikTok that some meals haven't arrived, have not followed their dietary restrictions, and have shown up hours past the allocated delivery times.
- The school says it is adding staff to the food services and has told students they'll receive a $100 gift card for delivery to amend the inconsistencies.
When Ben Cresto moved into his New York University
He received dinner on his first night, but the next day, the first
On Thursday, lunch came on time in a white bag labeled "vegan." However, its only contents were a steak-and-cheese salad.
"I honestly thought it was kind of funny," the 18-year-old told Insider.
@benbenfuntime I can’t make this up ##nyu ##vegan ##quarantine ##fyp
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Tara Shear faced different problems. She said her move-in on Tuesday went well and everyone was social distancing. But the next morning, she had to wait until 1 p.m. to receive breakfast. She said lunch didn't come until 5 p.m., and her dinner was delivered around 11 p.m.
"I know NYU is doing really well safety-wise, we're just hungry," she told Insider.
Over the past three days, videos showcasing NYU students' quarantine meals have flooded TikTok
Students traveling from restricted areas are required to quarantine for two weeks, and NYU is strongly encouraging any student outside of the tri-state area to self-isolate upon arrival.
To help accommodate those students, NYU opened its dorms early and offered free meals. Once classes start, first-year students are required to purchase a meal plan, which starts at $2,645 per semester.
While some students haven't received any food, others said that they've received three or four boxes of items per meal. The students Insider spoke with also added that many of the meals are arriving at random times and aren't following the students' dietary restrictions.
For lunch, one student received tortilla chips, balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing, and an apple. Shear was given potato chips, two granola bars, and a lemon for dinner. Other students didn't receive a meal at all.
"For one of my dinners, the main course was a bag of Lays chips," the 18-year-old told Insider. "I thought we'd at least be getting something warm."
@_daniellegould it’s ok we can use food delivery services from 2pm-8pm ##nyu ##quarantine ##quarantinemeal ##dorm
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Students shared that they've received meals that haven't followed their dietary restrictions
According to a statement published by NYU, the school currently has 2,600 students in dorms expecting three meals a day. About 20% of those students have dietary restrictions, like following kosher, vegan, vegetarian, or gluten-free diets.
Kevin Sun, who is a vegetarian, is one of those students. In the three days that he's lived in his dorm, the incoming freshman has received steak and chicken lunches. The university had also been giving him double or triple the number of meals he's supposed to receive each day.
He reached out to flag that he had received two lunches, both with meat, and the school brought him two new vegetarian meals. He had also received two breakfasts, which brought him up to seven meals in one day.
"I don't really know what happened," the 18-year-old told Insider.
@kevnsun idk why y’all mad im ✨feastin✨ ##greenscreen ##nyu ##fyp ##nyutiktok ##coronavirus ##quarantine ##college
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Sun is one of the few who has received extra food. Other students, like Madison Veldman, shared that the meals aren't enough to stay full.
"When you actually do get the food — if you even get the food — it's not full portion sizes," the incoming freshman told Insider. The first full day in the rising freshman's dorm, Veldman said breakfast arrived at 11:15 a.m., lunch came around 4 p.m., and her dinner wasn't delivered until 9 p.m.
For the students who didn't receive meals or were still hungry, their options were limited. Since the students can't leave their dorm rooms, they could order food delivery between 2 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. at their own expense.
Shear finally caved and ordered a burger and fries that came to $21. She said fellow NYU students and other TikTok users are sending funds to students who can't afford to get meals delivered.
@madison_veldman hope this clears things up for people (somewhat) ##nyu ##nyuquarantine ##nyutiktok ##foryou ##readySETgo
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Some students who complained directly to NYU were told they would receive a $30 Grubhub gift card, and others were told they could send in their receipts to be reimbursed by the university. Since a wave of complaints, NYU said it will issue $100 e-gift cards for groceries and food delivery to students in quarantine, but the students say they haven't received the money yet.
At a school where tuition, fees, room, and board starts at $74,000, some students have voiced that they could've offered more.
Referring to the gift card, Danielle Gould, a rising sophomore, said it's "a little silly because we are paying so much in tuition that you'd think they could give us a little more back."
An NYU spokesperson pointed to the food vendor, Chartwells, for its inconsistencies and errors.
"We are disappointed in Chartwells's management of the quarantine meals process. We and Chartwells are correcting the situation promptly," the
The college is adding staff to respond to complaints, adding staff to the delivery team, and bringing on an additional food service provider. The statement also said there will be dedicated staff preparing special meals.
Some students said that they've already seen improvements since moving in
Gould felt like the situation could've been handled if NYU had communicated better. Students were encouraged to bring as little as possible to the dorms, which meant some students didn't bring food.
"I worry about the kids that either didn't want to spend that money or didn't know to bring food," she said. But she added that the situation seems to be getting better.
Cresto, a vegan, started off his quarantine receiving dairy-based muffins and cookies, but yesterday he finally received a vegan cookie.
"That was the turning point," the 18-year-old said. Cresto also added that an NYU administrator had privately reached out to him to see if he needed anything.
"At the end of the day, it was just a couple of days of food mishaps," he said. "They really are doing everything in their power to rectify the situation."