New NYU president gets full reno at swanky Village pad

Andrew Hamilton, New York University’s new president, will be greeted by fancy new digs upon assuming leadership of the Greenwich Village institution in January – with the university spending no less than $1.1 million to completely renovate its 4,200-square-foot president’s residence.

The penthouse duplex, located in a landmark building at 37 Washington Square West, features four bedrooms, four-and-a-half Bathrooms And An Expansive Rooftop Terrace.

It will be even more opulent after the renovation, which includes installing a new kitchen and moving a staircase and existing walls. The upper level of the duplex – located on the 19th and topmost floor of the building – will be turned into a master bedroom suite, from which Hamilton will have private exists onto the terrace overlooking Washington Square and the Financial District skyline.

NYU’s cost of the transformation is significant, however – no less than $1.1 million and possibly double that amount, according to the New York Times, which is sure to raise questions at a university under pressure to control tuition costs. It wouldn’t be alone, however; Columbia University reportedly spent more than $20 million to overhaul its president’s mansion in the early 2000s.

Hamilton is joining NYU from the University of Oxford, where he has served as vice chancellor. His predecessor, the departing John Sexton, never lived in the apartment at 37 Washington Square South – opting to remain in the university-owned faculty apartment he was occupying.

In 2013, the Times reported that top NYU administrators and faculty members had been extended loans at extremely favorable terms – with the university even forgiving them over time, in some cases – for vacation homes in the Hamptons and Fire Island. [NYT] – Rey Mashayekhi