Wallach, the most wholesome and laid-back of freshman dorms, is perfect for independent freshpeople who want to cook for themselves, listen to fab piano music in the lounge, and have a homey home to come back to after a night ~on the town.~

Location: 1116 Amsterdam Avenue.

Nearby Dorms: Connected to John Jay and Hartley by neat hallways. Access to so many freshmen friends!

Stores and Restaurants: You don’t even have to go outside to get to JJ’s and John Jay! Incredible! Nearby off-campus food includes Hamilton Deli <3, Strokos, New York Basics, the halal cart on 116th, RotiRoll (kinda) and 1020

Cost: $7,928 (The standard for freshies.)

Amenities:

  • Bathrooms: Floors 3-8 have seven private bathrooms per floor, with one being handicapped accessible. On floors 2-9, three private bathrooms per suite. Very nice bathrooms for the most part, but can get nasty depending on who you live by :)
  • AC/Heating: No AC, yes heating.
  • Laundry: A laundry room in the basement is shared with Hartley and has 12 washers/dryers. Very rarely are they all full and busy! But you can also walk underground to access John Jay’s laundry room! How crazy is that!
  • Kitchen: On floors 3-8, a kitchen per floor lounge. On floors 2-9, a kitchen per suite. These kitchens have stoves, ovens, and cabinet space, but no fridges.
  • Lounges: Lounges abound in Wallach Hall! There is a big, beautiful piano lounge in the lobby, floor lounges with kitchens on each floor, and a wonderful sky lounge study space on floor 10.
  • Computers/Printing: There’s one trusty printer in the lobby <3
  • Fire Escapes/Bike Storage: Nope.
  • Floor: Mock hardwood flooring in all the rooms! Looks real nice.
  • Elevators: Two elevators, 4 staircases.

Room Breakdown:

  • Wallach has both doubles and singles. The 49 singles range from 94-125 sq. feet. The 190 doubles range from 200-206 sq. feet.
  • Upperclassmen: Pretty much all upperclassmen who live in Wallach have a single. Applications close in January, so better luck applying next year!
  • Freshpeople: Frosh have a pretty good chance getting smaller singles (<100 sq. ft) in Wallach, since some of the singles are reserved specifically for freshpeople. The doubles are very spacious, as well.

Bwog Recommendation:

“Wallach is calmer than Carman, more social than Furnald, homier than John Jay, and cleaner than Hartley. Perfect for a nice, laid-back first year. We love movie nights in the lounge, doing homework as some upperclassmen cook their dinners, baking Christmas cookies, etc. Also, thanks to our RA for so many free food drops in the lounge?!”

“The stereotype is that only weird people live there, and while I haven’t found that to be totally true, it is sort of accurate.”

“Nice bathrooms. Floors can have mixed social environments.”

“I live in Wallach now [as a sophomore]. Honestly, I’m a social person and have not made one actual friend in this dorm, which says a lot. My John Jay floor had a lot of people that turned out to be good friends of mine. You barely see human beings even walking around on the floor. I picked Wallach hoping it was the closest thing to John Jay for sophomores and I regret it, much rather would have been in McBain most likely for the social environment. But it’s a very good way to get a single as a sophomore. For first years, I wouldn’t recommend, because the singles are EXTREMELY TINY and you also have no sense of community despite it ironically being the LLC. Like some of my sophomore friends in Wallach are in singles that are 90 square ft…it’s just a lot. Bathrooms are great though, private lock and fantastic quality. I’ve never seen better bathrooms in a campus dorm.”

“If people think Wallach people are weird, Hartley is the really strange one.”

Resident Opinions:

  • “Wallach is super underrated and probably the best freshman dorm.”
  • “I LOVE WALLACH.”
  • “Great to have plenty of nearby bathrooms. Don’t have to walk down long, long hallways in a towel @John Jay.”