We like to think Mr. Milliken’s new pad looks something like this. (Observer)
Lately free apartments are being handed out much like Oprah gives away SUVs.
This week, CUNY’s recently elected chancellor will move into his brand new digs, complimentary of the university system: A 3,000-square foot apartment on the Upper East Side. Perhaps CUNY took heed from the NYCHA, which last week mandated that a Brooklyn homeowner rent her apartment to a homeless woman free of charge.
The four bedroom, 4-1/2 bath pad, complete with terrace, is totally a steal for $18,000 a month, though—right? Well, at least it is for Chancellor James Milliken, who won’t feel a thing when the rent rises to $19,500 next year. The price tag is but a dent in the $3.4 million fattening CUNY’s wallet after selling the previous chancellor’s apartment.
For these university leaders, it’s all in the job description: CUNY requires them to live in these not-so-humble abodes and host CUNY events there. But the luxury lifestyle rubs some CUNY professors the wrong way.
A Brooklyn professor told the Post, “CUNY has no problem wasting money on administrators. It’s part of the administrative bloat. But they don’t spend money on faculty. Our salaries have been frozen for four years.”
For the sake of these faculty members, let’s hope that Mr. Milliken is of the “Mi casa es su casa” ideology.
