By DAVID ANDREATTA Education Reporter
August 25, 2006 -- Hunter College has overturned a "suicide policy" in its housing contract for students, after a sophomore claimed she was unfairly evicted from her dorm room over a failed attempt to take her own life.
Beginning in 2003, the City University of New York college had required an agreement that said students who attempt suicide or to harm themselves will be asked to leave the residence hall for a semester. To return, the student had to be evaluated by a school psychologist.
A college spokeswoman said the policy was scrapped this month as a result of a $65,000 lawsuit settlement with the student. "As part of the agreement, the automatic expulsion from the residence hall has been withdrawn," said the spokeswoman, Meredith Halpern, adding that the housing contract was under review.
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"It just makes it so much worse for someone who suffers from depression to come back to their room and find themselves locked out," said the woman's lawyer, David Goldfarb. "How this could be at all therapeutic is beyond me."
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by Rob Capriccioso
August 24, 2006 -- On Wednesday, lawyers representing a former honors student at Hunter College of the City University of New York announced that the institution has settled a lawsuit, which centered on its treatment of students with mental health issues.
The case, which was filed in federal court on behalf of a woman who was not identified, resulted in a $65,000 settlement for her. In a letter accompanying the settlement, lawyers for the institution indicated that the college’s “suicide policy” is “under review,” and may be changed to be less punitive toward students who attempt suicide.
Currently, the policy indicates that a student who tries to take his or her life is automatically barred from living in the institution’s dorms, and must leave campus for one full semester after the semester in which he or she is banned. “[S]tudents with psychological issues may be mandated by the Office of Residence Life to receive counseling,” according to the policy.
Richard Kadison, director of mental health services at Harvard University, said Wednesday that such policies are uncommon and “risky” because they don’t allow for individual circumstances that may make such stipulations unreasonable and potentially harmful to students.
Rita Rodin, a spokeswoman for the CUNY system, confirmed the settlement, but said that she could not offer any comment regarding Hunter College’s review of its suicide policy.
The settlement comes amid lots of discussion about college policies involving suicidal students. On Monday, court hearings began in a lawsuit began against Allegheny College by the parents of a student who hanged himself in 2005; they contend that his counselor had a responsibility to prevent their son’s suicide. Also ongoing is a suit headed toward trial against George Washington University, in which a student is seeking both damages and reform of the university’s policy of expelling students who express suicidal thoughts.
In June 2004, the student in the Hunter College case — whose name has not been released by her lawyers, to protect her privacy — found herself adversely affected by the policy, according to court records. After taking a large number of Tylenol pills and making an emergency trip to a hospital, she returned home to find that the locks on her doors had been changed.
Immediately, according to her lawyers, she asked that college administrators let her remain in the dorms, as doctors had determined that she was not a danger to herself or others. Her request was denied. Ultimately, she was allowed to pack up her belongings only under surveillance of a security guard, which humiliated her, according to court documents. She also became worried once again about her mental state.
“It was very difficult for her,” said David Goldfarb, one of her lawyers. “She felt that everyone knew her business and was very uncomfortable.”
After she sued the college — charging violation of the Fair Housing Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act — Goldfarb said that the student began feeling overwhelmed, and left college.
Until the settlement, Hunter College had defended its policy in court, but with the letter accompanying the settlement, which promises a review, that course appears to be reversed.
“Individualized responses to a student’s situation are crucial to prevent the kind of arbitrary exclusion that [the student] faced,” said Karen Bower, another lawyer for the student, who works for the Bazelon Center for Mental Health. “Schools that exclude students who seek help discourage them from getting the help they need, isolate the students from friends and support at a time when support is most needed, and send students the message that they have done something wrong.”
The student could not be reached for comment on Wednesday, but Goldfarb said that she views the settlement as a victory, and may return to Hunter, where she would be eligible to complete three courses left incomplete after she exited the institution.
She will receive the payment in monthly increments over four years, at her request.
By CLAIRE WILSON Published: August 20, 2006
WITH a collection of handsome public buildings, a poetic Sept. 11 memorial and charming if underused low-rise stores fanning out along the streets above the newly refurbished ferry terminal, the Staten Island town of St. George can remind a visitor of some of the most livable cities in the country.
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“People who live along those streets have invested in the neighborhood because it is was low-scale,” said David Goldfarb, a lawyer and 33-year resident of St. George, who is also president of the New York City Historic Districts Council. “Every place doesn’t have to look like Miami Beach.”
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July 30, 2006, Sunday By BOB MORRIS (NYT); Style Desk
NEW YORK was aghast last week at the dark drama surrounding Brooke Astor, the 104-year-old philanthropist and socialite. Her grandson is taking his father, her only son, to court for not providing for her needs and for cutting back on her care. Her son is shocked by the charges. ...
New York Times
Grand Homes, Victoriana, and a Splintering Over Growth
By JEFF VANDAM Published: September 11, 2005
STEPPING off the Staten Island Railway at the absolute bottom of New York, visitors first see Lily's Tottenville Inn, a handsome mid-18th-century Victorian house and former hotel. Now a restaurant, the inn serves food and drink to the people of Tottenville along the waters of the Arthur Kill.
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"It's crazier than ever," said David Goldfarb, president of the Historic Districts Council and a longtime island resident, who first explored Tottenville in the early 70's when his wife worked at the local library. In those days, Main Street was tranquil and the trains terminating there were still outfitted with rattan seats. Development had not even begun to lap at the island's southern tip.
Now, he said, "it's developing geometrically." And he added: "These houses are on very large lots out there," he said. "They can tear them down and build numerous town houses."
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By ROBIN FINN
THINKING of paving paradise and putting up a parking lot? If paradise includes an edifice over the age of 75, you may catch an irritable earful, and possibly worse, from David Goldfarb, a white-bearded lawyer who, at 55, blithely confesses to looking older than chronology deems him. Which perhaps accounts for his identification with old-timers, whether human (his specialty is elder law) or architectural (his voluntary avocation is landmark preservation). And yes, he resorts to litigation if prodded; can't expect ramshackle bungalows and Victorians to defend themselves.
Bulldozers aren't typically the designated villain of urban rants, but they are for Mr. Goldfarb, new president of the Historic Districts Council, which helps city neighborhoods pursue landmark designation. "In some boroughs, the whole diversity of the city is being lost," he grouses. Tartly. "Everything is being turned into a town house."
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July 11, 2003
To the Editor: Re ''The (Inflated) Price of Preservation,'' by Anthony M. Tung (Op-Ed, July 4): We should find a way to reward those who preserve New York City's heritage, not a way to surcharge them. Efforts to have neighborhoods landmarked will be undermined by this shortsighted policy of charging fees for upgrades or repairs of landmarked properties.
There are other ways to raise funds for the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission. There are now fines for people who break the landmarks laws, but they are rarely imposed. Efforts should be made to collect from those who break the law rather than those who obey it.
Landmarks enrich the entire city. A small additional charge on all building permits could help the city finance parks, cultural institutions and the landmarks agency without penalizing just those who already shoulder the burden of maintaining a landmarked property.
DAVID GOLDFARB
President, Historic Districts Council
Staten Island, July 4, 2003