Too crazy. I didn’t even read the article and went to check my email and there was a Stony Brook email. I don’t even think we have had any of those up to this point. 
My D 25 really wanted to go to school in New York City, but we’re full pay so seeking merit schools (that are really strong in STEM, so not Fordham). Stony brook checks off a ton of our boxes, but I have no experience with Long Island. I think we’ll have to go pay a visit to see if it would be a good fit. I know it’s definitely not NYC.
Stony Brook is a great school, but you need to take the LIRR and it is not a short ride. Also, I would check to see if the school clears out on the weekends (not sure).
Look into CUNY. Hunter has undergraduate dorms (or at least they did a few years ago when my daughter was looking at graduate schools). Again, not sure what happens on the weekends but at least your child will be in NYC. Remember- NYC is expensive.
You could also look at Rutgers. The train station is right on (or near) the NB campus and it’s not too hard to get into the city.
It’s funny, SUNY is an enormous system, cheap, and has something for everyone, often at multiple schools. None of the schools, not even their “flagships” are very highly selective (not like U Mich or UVa or UNC or UCB/UCLA), and yet, here is an article that implies that the flagships, which still have acceptance rates of about 50%, need to be places for all students!
Have run into the same arguments regarding UMass Amherst and UConn Storrs, both of which have become more selective, but both systems offer tons of alternative choices, too, for those who cannot get in as freshmen, from other campuses, to state colleges, to community colleges. How can you have a school’s academic standards, and hence selectivity, improve, with a finite number of seats, and still admit all comers?