Living at the Library: The Bobst Library's Tenant

The expensive reality of living in the city is one thing, but being a student at a NYC university should enable you some ability to live here while you study. But NYU student Steve Stanzak's tale of living in the basement of Bobst Library shows what some will do to stay in the city. Stanzak, a sophomore, did not get enough financial aid to cover rooming and was already working jobs to cover costs not paid by his scholarship, so he started to live in the subbasement in NYU's biggest library, using four chairs as a bed and going unnoticed by university security. Stanzak's blog, homelessatnyu, was what first tipped NYU officials to his squatting - or studying (however you perceive it). He is now in university housing, though misses his status as "Bobst Boy." NYU's spokesman tells the Times: "N.Y.U. doesn't attract just smart students, it attracts smart, eclectic students. We had a film student who wanted to film a couple performing a live sex act in front of a class. We had students who set up a swimming pool in their dorm room. Now we have this fellow." Viva New York! And viva blogs for helping him get some housing. Steve Stanzak is our New Yorker of the week!

Students at Columbia University will probably decide to explore Butler to see if anyone is living there but will probably just come across some people having sex in the stacks. As usual.

Updated: Reader John let us know about a livejournal entry from Steve about his media whirlwind yesterday:

But, as we [Stanzak and Times reporter Karen Arenson] were leaving the library, someone just started randomly taking pictures of me. It was the evil New York Post! I had to avoid them and their questions because I was still with Karen and because the Post was crazy and mean and so we ran to the NYU eatery to grab some juice and answer some more questions. The Post surrounded both doors. When Karen had finished her interview and was left alone, I wasn't sure of what to do with the Post. Better sense told me to run away as fast as I could from them, but then again, I didn't want to be reported as being stand-offish and rude, and I was honestly afraid that they would follow me back to Lafayette, so I told them I had someplace to be and allowed them to do a real quick interview....After the interview with the Post (which they said I'll probably be front page, unless something happens in Iraq), I head over to Broadway to wait for the bus to take me back to Lafayette.

NYU's student newspaper, Washington Square News, broke the story.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on April 27, 2004 8:49 AM

Comments [rss]

pieceomymind

some jerkoff went into my backpack when i left it unattended one time at bobst & my walkman was stolen

that library stinks & was horrible, noisy place to study when i went to grad sch'l there

loisaida

Aw, kiddies who can afford NYU's tuition, yet are homeless.... awwwwwwwwwww. [insert violin music here]

saya

maybe he was related to the kid that lived in the nyu student center in 1997/98?... (before that was torn down and yet another nyu monstrosity was built)

whatever happened to that kid?

zaelic

Back during my days as a bookbinder at Boston University's Mugar Library, we used to have to "pulp" or discard out of date books to make shelf space for new ones. One day thousands of books arrived for pulping from the "Western Civilization Collection." Apparently it was housed in a room that almost nobody ever bothered to use. One day, manaic right winger BU President John Silber was walking by it and saw a couple of students... doing it... in the stacks. And that was the end of the Western Civilization Collection.

Sex in the stacks. Don't do it. Book collections will suffer.

Ryan

Clearly, you've taken appreciation of the theatre to the next level.

Jen

Done and done.

Dave Hughes

Hey, why not direct students to the NYU daily student newspaper, the Washington Square News, which broke the story (yesterday) in the first place?

(aside from the fact that the website appears to be down, that is. Sigh. check www.nyunews.com periodically if you're curious, folks.)

-Dave

WSN Weekend Editor

Tim N.

Collins Auditorium at FU was good... the stage, catwalks, lighting booth, Mimes office... maybe I should stop now... :>)

Lux

Don't forget the tunnels!

Ryan

Oh come now, Tim, there are few more sacrilicious libraries to have sex in than Duane. I guess it all depends on your year and willingness to go straight to hell. See Creative places to have sex at Fordham in LiveJournal's Fordham community.

Columbia students, for various levels of adventurism, get Butler, low, and for extreme TC-ers willing to brave construction, Milbank.

calvin

There was this dude at Butler Library when I was at Columbia who was ALWAYS there. He took something like 8 classes per term and was active in a few organizations. To make things more efficient, he would sleep in the library between his studying and his first class. I had a friend who was friends with him and he only used his room to shower and change into some new clothes.