BY ALFONSO ABREU
Educational Housing Services (EHS), joined by U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, celebrated the completion of its third student housing campus, Hudson Yards, with a ribbon cutting ceremony. According to EHS officials, the ceremony was less about their newest building and more about preserving the idea of New York City being the city of dreams for the younger generation. As NYC continues to lack affordable living conditions for students, EHS provides an option for some students.
For the occasion, a ribbon-cutting ceremony, hosted by EHS President and CEO Jeff Lynford, was the public’s introduction to the building. Lynford and Gillibrand were joined by NYC Council Member Erik Bottcher. Lynford thanked those who lent their helping hands during the five year long construction of the project.
EHS provides housing for college students and interns all around NYC. Their newest building is their third one, next to the Midtown location where they occupy five floors of the New Yorker Hotel, and their Brooklyn Heights location named St. George Towers. The Hudson Yards location opened up last August right before the 2024-2025 school year, whilst the team were still putting the finishing touches on the building.
In recent weeks, the EHS team had put the finishing touches on the building, ready to showcase it to everyone else. Students from any university are able to apply for housing and pay the costs that come with it. The prices for a room varies, as a single room for the current fall semester is $8,500. A room for next year’s spring semester sees a slight increase, with the price being $10,650. And for the entire year, excluding the option of staying during the summer, the price is $16,450. With the summer option, the price is $22,350. EHS provides multiple payment plans, and different rooming options to help lessen the price.
Senator Gillibrand set the tone for the ceremony. “For decades New York has been the city of dreams,” she said. “We ask ourselves is this city still where dreams are achievable for every young person? For far too many students the answer is no. The reality is, it is a tough time to be a young person in this nation.”
Gilliband cited a recent study found that 350,000 New Yorkers left this city in 2022. “Ttime and time again they are stating the same reasons for leaving ‘New York City is just too expensive.’” Gilliband finished by saying “We can not let the dream of New York become a distant memory for the next generation.”
Council Member Bottcher said “When I moved to New York City in 2001, I rented a futon in this guy’s living room.” “All my stuff had to be put away before he came out to the living room in the morning. That was the New York City I was able to afford.”
Before the building housed students, the building provided housing for single women in the 1900s who looked to find their dreams in the city. “This building before it was shut down, used to be affordable housing for women” said Vice President Christy Chatfield. “This building had such a great story but that story had already been told. These women who came from all around the world. It was such a wonderful opportunity for them.”
Halle Zavlick, a current college student and one of the resident advisor for EHS New Yorker Branch took her first step into the Hudson Yard building at the ceremony. “The furniture here is much cleaner and has more of a neutral color palette than the New Yorker one” Zavlick joked. “I used to live with my grandmother but she’s getting older and to give her space, I decided to move into the EHS dorms. It’s a lot closer to my campus.” said Zavlick.
As Jeff Lynford and Kristen Gillibrand cut the ribbon, it symbolised the unveiling of a new hope that strived to hold together the NYC dream.