Lafayette Hall’s main entrance was relocated around the corner to 87 White Street at the start of this semester to improve accessibility at the dorm, which was previously accessed via a staircase with no accompanying ramp.

At the end of August, residents received an email from Lafayette Hall staff announcing a new lobby. Renovations over the summer had transformed the previous emergency exit on White Street into the current main entrance with newly installed tap-in stations to access the building elevators. 

“The building’s entrance on the more commercial Lafayette Street was not wheelchair accessible,” NYU spokesperson Joseph Tirella wrote in a statement to WSN. “With this new entrance on the quieter and more residential White Street, there are no barriers for wheelchair users, and the lobby is wide-open and flat, which also makes it more convenient for deliveries.” 

Lafayette Hall is the largest dorm on campus, housing nearly 1,100 students.

The 80 Lafayette St. doorway has been the dorm’s main entrance since 1999, and had a small stairway leading up to the security booth without an accessibility ramp. The old lobby experienced bottlenecks and overflow during high-traffic times, such as when large numbers of non-NYU guests check in. The original entrance continues to serve as a pick-up spot for students boarding buses to NYU’s Washington Square and Brooklyn campuses.

“Since the shuttle stopped right at that entrance, I felt like it was more convenient,” Steinhardt junior and Lafayette Hall resident Gianna Castro told WSN. “I think that was more a way for us all to come in and connect.”

Tirella also said that the White Street entrance “allows the campus safety officer on duty to more effectively safeguard the entrance in order to make sure the building is safe and secure.” In 2021, an outsider not affiliated with NYU repeatedly intruded the building and harassed student residents in their rooms.

Contact Noah Kim at [email protected].