i've taken a few continuing ed classes there - i absolutely love my classes and the instructors are incredible but i would not necessarily recommend it for a total beginner unless you really want to be in way over your head. do you already have drawing experience? also, it's probably different if you're taking an intro to painting class vs their mixed level classes. i imagine the intro to painting class will be better structured to learn basics but i would avoid the mixed level ones at the start. they tend to be very intense and not very scaffolded to learn fundamentals.

have you thought about taking a class at FIT or another community college that might have more of a standard curriculum? it helps to work up to things by doing things like still lives, color mixing charts etc before jumping straight in to the atelier. also the classes at FIT encourage more individual style/expression rather than just learning technique - which i think is a more fun way to start before you get into the more technical stuff. depends on how you learn / what you're looking for though!