The university has removed convicted felon Hakan Yalincak's name from the lecture hall that was partially built with money he stole and donated to NYU.
Wednesday night, the sign dedicating the hall to Yalincak's family was unbolted and taken down, nearly a year after Yalincak was convicted on charges of bank and wire fraud. NYU officials said it was worth blemishing the wall to preserve university values, a sharp departure from last week, when those same officials said taking the sign down without marring the wall would be unacceptably costly.
The letters, spelling out "Yalincak Family Foundation" on the wall of 19 W. Fourth St., left a discolored shadow. The words "Lecture Hall," which followed, are still there.
About a week and a half ago, NYU spokesman John Beckman told WSN that NYU hadn't removed the sign because it was a complicated and costly procedure that would damage the wall.
Since then, however, the university collectively decided that "it was more important to remove a name that did not deserve to be there than to ensure that the wall be unmarred," Beckman said in an e-mail.
Restoring the wall, which could include extensive woodwork or find matching panels, will cost thousands of dollars, Beckman said.
In September 2004, Yalincak, who would have graduated in 2005, pledged to give the school $21 million and donated $1.25 million as a down payment. Yalincak is now serving 42 months in prison, and his donation was found to have been money reaped from a phony hedge fund scheme.
NYU returned most of the $1.25 million, but a bankruptcy trustee allowed the school to keep approximately $200,000 to cover the costs NYU had already put toward the lecture hall.
The university decided that removal of the sign was inevitable months ago once it had become clear that "the Yalincaks had cheated NYU," Beckman said. It took so long to take action because they were "looking for a solution to leave the hall unblemished."
"Ultimately, we wished we had made this decision earlier," he said.
Although some students with classes in the hall said they hadn't noticed the sign was removed, most said it was about time.
"It took them five minutes," CAS junior Josh Singer said. "I don't understand why they didn't do it before."
CAS senior Sabrina Gillespie said, "It was a good decision."
The building will now be called "Lecture Hall" until NYU finds another donor, Beckman said.
"In the meantime," he said, "until we find a good solution to restore the wall, we'll live with the marks that removing the letters has created."
Gallatin freshman Josh Kahn said he didn't think the damage on was too bad.
"Let the sun bleach it a little," he said.
Sara Dover is campus news editor. E-mail her at sdover@nyunews.com.
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