Unidentified man spotted wandering around Rubin Hall

The New York City Police Department and NYU Campus Safety responded at about 8 p.m. on Monday, April 11, to a report filed the previous day of an intruder in Rubin Hall. The man has entered the residence hall at least three times and has stayed overnight twice between Wednesday, April 6, and Sunday, April 10, according to several students. He claimed to be a graduate student, but did not specify if he attends NYU. 

The intruder was seen by students sitting in student lounges, talking to female residents and following multiple women as they exited the residence hall. LS first-year Nicola Verani first saw the man in a hallway, where he approached her and made comments about her height on April 7. A friend later told Verani that he was escorted out of the building.

On April 9, Verani saw the man for a second time in the second floor lounge. She filmed the intruder and offered to escort him out of the building, but he declined. After Verani made several attempts to persuade him to leave, she escorted him to the lobby. 

Verani said she became anxious about the intruder because she did not witness him leaving the building. She went back downstairs and told a security guard, who informed her that he did leave the building.

“He was there and no one did anything,” Verani said. “When I walked in, I saw a boy and a girl there. I saw him and I recognized him because I remembered him and how he wasn’t supposed to be there.”

Residents also witnessed the man on the fifth and sixth floors, where he approached several female residents. A resident assistant in the building sent an email to residents explaining that the man did not live in Rubin Hall but had gained access to the floor. The RA also said the man was not known to be confrontational or violent, but told residents that they should not approach him.

Another student, a Tisch first-year, said she encountered the man at night while she was watching a movie with her friend in the second floor lounge on April 6. The man started talking about the television show “Euphoria.”

“I thought he was just alone and trying to make friends,” she said. “But then randomly, while we were looking for movies, he was like ‘Should I buy you guys cookies?’”

The students then left the residence hall to take a walk. When they returned, they went back to the same lounge and saw a Campus Safety officer escort the man out of the building. 

LS first-year Jack Keegan also saw the intruder in the second floor lounge on April 10 at around 4 a.m. Keegan, who was accompanied by his friend, said that the man spoke to them when he entered the lounge.

“He walked by me and my friend, and was like, ‘Oh, it’s 4 a.m. and no one’s down here,’” Keegan said. “We ignored him and he went to the quiet section of the lounge. He was just doing his own thing.”

Rubin Hall’s administration has not communicated with residents about the incidents. University spokespeople did not immediately respond to a WSN request for comment.

Contact Lauren Ashe at [email protected].