Books at bedtime for homeless NYU student

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2004

NEW YORK (AFP) — A homeless New York University student who claimed to have lived for eight months in the basement of the college library has been granted free accommodation and national celebrity.

Sophomore Steve Stanzak said he slept six hours a night in the basement, showering in the gym and doing homework assignments at a McDonald's.

Stanzak's plight, which was splashed on the front page of The New York Times on Tuesday, was well known to those fellow students who regularly logged onto his website -- www.homelessatnyu.com -- to read daily updates on his situation.

The website demonstrates a flair for dramatic narrative, with a title page that promises "the tale of a penniless boy and his quest to gain a college education, ... unable to get his loans...