Grad dorm opens in Brooklyn

NYU has opened a new graduate residence hall in Brooklyn, marking the first time in recent history that NYU will offer students university housing outside Manhattan.

The 26-story residence hall, located at 67 Livingston St. in the historic neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights, is now home to 115 NYU graduate students, according to NYU's office of student housing.

NYU has signed a three-year lease on the building.

The university is also currently in merger negotiations with Polytechnic University, an engineering school that is also located in Brooklyn.

The dorm's leasing, however, is a "totally separate" event, university spokesman John Beckman said.

The building is near the Court Street subway station, which has stops for the M, 2, 3, 4, 5, R and W lines. According to HopStop.com, it takes about 30 minutes to get from the dorm to the Silver Center mid-morning on a weekday, using the R.

NYU will also make a van available at night to take students from NYU's Manhattan campus back to the Brooklyn dorm.

The building offers a variety of floor plans, ranging in price from $11,700 for a shared studio to $28,350 for a one-bedroom single. It is apartment-style, and has full bathrooms and kitchens with stoves, microwaves and refrigerators - not unlike the configuration of many NYU dorms in Manhattan.

NYU is not providing cable or internet service.

"It was very helpful to be able to lease an entire building, as was the case here, because that way we can more easily provide university services to our students," Beckman said.

Irene Janner, the office manager of the Brooklyn Heights Association, said she thinks NYU students will fit in well in Brooklyn Heights.

The building's previous owner also used 67 Livingston St. as dormitory space, she said, noting: "This is not a new thing for us."

Janner said that she thinks the new residence hall will be "good for stores and restaurants" and will "liven up the area."

According to documents from the Online City Register of the New York City Department of Finance, the property was bought by GC Livingston LLC on March 26 for $18.6 million from the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, a Jehovah's Witnesses organization.

Rachel Slaff is a contributing writer. E-mail her at news@nyunews.com