Freshpeople Housing Review 2023: John Jay

John Jay: where singles become social.

Location: 519 W. 114th Street, New York, NY 10027

Nearby Dorms: Wallach, Hartley, and Ruggles

Nearby Stores and Restaurants: John Jay Dining Hall, JJ’s Place, Strokos, NY Basics, Hamilton Deli

Cost: The projected first-year rate for the 2023-2024 academic year is $10,440.

Amenities:

Bathrooms: Shared single-use bathrooms on each floor.
AC/Heating: No AC, unless you’re one of the random rooms in the upper floors that is graciously granted AC units. No worries, though. The lack of AC is compensated by extreme use of heaters in the winter! Overall, just bring a fan or two, and you’ll be fine year-round.
Lounges: Each floor has a lounge with tables, chairs, a microwave, and a whiteboard to entertain your creative side. No kitchens, but you can walk to Wallach or Hartley for that.
Laundry: Free laundry located in the basement. Do be warned that your laundry will be moved if you aren’t on time—John Jay has a lot of residents with a lot of laundry to be done.
Bike Storage: None.
Printers: Two printers near the main lounge. Incredibly handy for late-night studying in your dorm.
Elevators: Two fairly slow elevators. One goes to the 13th floor, and the other reaches the 14th floor. 15th floor residents will need to take the stairs.
Hardwood/Carpet: Hardwood floors inside rooms, with carpeted hallways.
The John Jay lounge on the main floor is perfect for meeting up with friends. It also ends up being overflow seating when John Jay Dining Hall inevitably fills up. Nice furniture.
John Jay also has indoor access to Wallach and Hartley via tunnels on the first floor.
There’s a seating area outside John Jay’s doors with tables and benches available, which are great for sharing a meal with friends on warm days.
Columbia Health Medical Services are located on the 4th floor, so you’ll have easy access if you ever get sick!

Room Variety:

Among the 11 residential floors, John Jay has 395 singles and 36 doubles. Singles roughly range from 110 to 125 square feet. Many doubles are so generous as to practically be singles—two rooms have a nearly closed-off wall separating them, with only one door to the hallway. Doubles of a normal nature are around 180 square feet.

Bwog Recommendation:

As a first year, John Jay is the place to be. With the majority of residents having singles, you’ll have a little sanctuary of privacy while also being surrounded by plenty of people looking for friends. You might not get to know everyone on your floor (John Jay houses a lot of residents), but you can definitely create an entire friend group solely from your living situation in John Jay. The bathrooms are usually considered a benefit because of their single-use style. If the hallways seem like a hotel, the bathrooms will transport you home! Of course, living in the same building as two dining halls is a plus, and the indoor connection to Hartley and Wallach is a major benefit during winter. Take caution though, because John Jay also has bug problems. John Jay is famous for its resident cockroaches that may or may not emerge from shower drains or walls in the warm months. Two floors also had crickets this past year, though rumors say that a resident brought them in intentionally. Don’t let it be a deciding factor; just buy Raid.

Resident Opinions:

“The bathrooms are nice because they’re private, but they can get crusty if you live with the wrong people.”
“The views are great! If you live on the correct side.”
“No AC sucks. Bring a fan.”
“The singles may seem small, but it’s the perfect size and can store all that you need.”
“Location is great. Two dining halls slap!”
“Lounges are kinda musty.”
“Walls are a little thin.”
“The large closets are nice.”
“John Jay is the traditional college dorm. Basic, but not in a bad way.”
“I’m living with friends from my floor next year. John Jay gets tight knit!”
“The floods when the shower drain was clogged were f***ing crazy. We experienced a real world application of Lit Hum… It was the floods of Genesis!”