Security is being ramped up at New York University after an alarming number of intruders had made it onto campus and into student dormitory buildings.
Over the past month, at least four students at the college have reported being followed into their dorm by a stranger. No one was hurt in any of the four cases, but concerns are still spreading about how the trespassers were able get through security at the $78,000-per-year school.
"We just started locking our door. Making sure everything is safe," said Sabrina Ferid, who said it's the first time in her three years at the school she's had to do so. "I feel safe usually. Usually. In my last dorm, security was super tight. This is my first year here."
Ferid and her friend Joy live at 80 Lafayette Street, where a student first told campus police (and the student newspaper) that a man jumped the dorm's security turnstile and followed her to her room — where she hid behind her door.
According to NYU security records, there were four trespassing incidents in two weeks at dorms in Lower Manhattan and the school's East Village complex of housing stretching along Third Avenue.
In another case, a student at NYU's Third Avenue North residence hall told school officials she woke up to find a man staring at her from her doorway. The man left, and a search turned up nothing.
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University higher-ups now concerned, and have ordered a security review.
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"Despite the very considerable measures we already take, we need to learn from these incidents and correct any gaps in coverage or mistakes," a university spokesperson told NBC New York. "The President of the University has asked for a full review of residence hall security to determine whether and what systemic issues there may be and what steps need to be taken to prevent any repeats."
