Did you know it used to be named Johnson Hall?

Location: 411 West 116th Street (between Amsterdam Ave and Morningside Drive)

• Nearby dorms: East Campus 
• Stores and restaurants: Hamilton Deli, Arts and Crafts Beer Parlor, two (2) halal carts! located at 116th & Amsterdam, Lenfest Cafe, Faculty House! 
• Cost: $11,574/year (projected rate for 2023-2024). 

Amenities:

• Bathrooms: Each floor has one men’s communal bathroom, one women’s communal bathroom, and one gender-neutral single stall with a shower. All bathrooms have one sink, three showers, and three toilets, with the men’s featuring two urinals.
• AC/Heating: No A/C, and heating either doesn’t work or turns your room into a convection oven.
• Kitchen: There’s a kitchen in each floor lounge that is surprisingly nice.
• Lounge:
  • The main lobby is nice enough, but you’ll never use it unless you are an aspiring pianist.
  • Each floor has a lounge with sofas, a kitchen, and a TV.
• Laundry: Eight washers and nine dryers are available on the second floor for no cost.
• Computers/Printers: There’s a computer lounge with one iMac, three Dell computers, and a printer on the second floor, as well as a printer on the first floor in the lobby.
• Bike storage: No, but there is storage available nearby in the courtyard.
• Gym: Nope. Dodge it is. 
• Intra-transportation: Two elevators and a stairway, if you’re into that sort of thing. 
• Hardwood/Carpet: Rooms and lounges are hardwood; hallways are carpet. (Save for the second-floor lounge, which is carpet.)
• Extras:
  • Columbia’s Mail Center is located in the basement of Wien. Perfect if you love online shopping but not hauling your spoils back to your dorm. 
  • The third floor is an “all-female floor.”
  • Right next to PrezBo’s house. You can look at all 16,803 sq ft of it on your way back to your 100 sq ft single. 
  • You get a sink in your room, which may initially sound underwhelming. But, when it’s 3 am and you don’t have to leave your room to wash your face and brush your teeth, it is a big deal.

Room variety:

• 283 singles and 45 doubles. 
• Singles average around 110 square feet.
• Standard doubles (16) average around 200 square feet. 
• Walk-through doubles (29), average around 290 square feet: a hallway, a 110-120 square foot single, and a 90-93 square foot single.
• Residents are mainly sophomores and juniors, with a smattering of seniors.

Numbers:

In general, sophomores with mid-range lottery numbers can score a Wien single.

From Columbia Housing: “Room Selection 2022 data shows that the students who selected into this building were 68% juniors, 22% seniors, and 10% sophomores.”

Bwog Recommendation:

• Wien is fine. Just fine. There isn’t much floor community, so if you’re looking for that this might not be the place for you. Having a single, as the majority of Wien residents do, is great, and being in the same building as the Mail Center is very convenient. And, of course, the sinks in the room are god-tier. You’ll probably look back on your time in Wien with ambivalence. 
• The lighting in the Wien hallways makes you feel just a little like you’re in a horror movie. That being said, it’s honestly a pretty fine dorm as long as you’re not looking for a super social dorm. Having a single, as the majority of Wien residents do, is great, and being in the same building as the mail center is very convenient. And, of course, the sinks in the room are a godsend. 
• Wien’s not incredibly social unless your housing group decides to choose a bunch of singles (but even then, you’re probably better off in a suite). The hallways are garishly lit with exposed wire, which only compounds the seasonal affective disorder you get from spending a winter in New York City. Despite there being a kitchen, no one uses it, and every time you think that you’re going to actually use the lounge for something, you’ll actually end up going right back to your single after you catch a glimpse of a tight-knit group of friends that you’re not part of enjoying McDelivery, doing homework together, and living out their four years.

Resident Opinions:

• “I don’t know anyone on my floor. Not even my roommate.”
• “Sink.”
• “Rooms can get a little hot, by a little I mean all your plants will die. Keep your windows open.”
• “If you have a room facing Morningside, it’s a great view.”
• “Having the Mail Center in the basement saved me many trips outside in gross weather.”
• “Sink slayyyyy!”
• “Don’t go to Wien expecting a great deal of “floor culture;” there’s barely any.”
• “I would protect my sink with my life.”

All Wien Photos via Bwarchives