Find sophomore solace at the heart of campus

Location:

• Nearby dorms: Wallach and John jay are conveniently connected! Perfect for when you’re too cold to go outside. Trust me, it happens to the best of us. 
• Stores and restaurants: John Jay and JJ’s (once again connected, and JJ’s is open 22 hours out of the day) Hamilton Deli, Strokos, NY Basics—pretty much anything in Amsterdam is relatively close by.

Cost: 2023-2024 year rates: $10,440/year for first-years, $11,600/year for upperclassmen.

Amenities:

• Bathrooms: Each suite has two  shared, co-ed bathrooms. One of the floors of the two-story suites has fewer people and has a smaller bathroom with one toilet stall and one shower stall while the other has two of each. They are generally clean. Unlike other suite-style buildings, bathrooms in Hartley are cleaned twice weekly by Facilities.
  • It is an old building so the bathrooms have their moments but the Hartley Hospitality Desk is conveniently the closest it could be for any issues.
• AC/Heating: You’re in luck! They installed permanent window units just last summer! There are also AC units in the suite lounges and hallways.
• Lounge: Yes, you read right in the previous bullet, there is a lounge in every suite! The lounges are really spacious and are probably the best parts of Hartley! Each suite makes its lounge its own one way or another. Since there are two floors in each suite, there is a lower lounge and an upper lounge. The floor with more people has the larger lounge which has a couple of seats and a TV. The smaller lounge has a table and a couple of chairs, but it is still a cozy place to chill. Some of the chairs are very comfortable armchairs, which gives you a great place to sit and relax! The arrangement of these lounges is up to the people in each suite, and there is a lot of room for different sorts of arrangements. The lounges in the A and C suites tend to be a lot larger than those in the B suites. The second-floor suites are only one floor, but they still have substantial lounges. There is also a sky lounge with AC that’s open to anyone and a large lounge on the first floor with ping pong and pool tables. 
• Kitchen: Connected to the larger suite lounge is a fully functioning kitchen with two stoves, a sink, and a microwave, as well as lots of cabinet space. The appliances are a little old and, like the bathrooms, a little musty. Despite its exterior, all the appliances are clean and work perfectly. All the suites have two gas-lit stoves, an oven, a dishwasher, a microwave, and a sink. As with most things in Hartley, the cleanliness of the kitchen is mostly dependent on how your suitemates care for it, so be ready to do some negotiating! Also, no communal fridge, which could be a pro or a con depending on how you spin it.
• Laundry: There is a free laundry facility in the basement shared with Wallach. Like everything else in Hartley, the journey to the laundry room from the elevator feels like a life-or-death situation with low ceilings, hot humid air, exposed piping, and the occasional cockroach sighting. The machines were replaced over the summer of 2022, so they should all be in good working condition! Though it tends to get full during certain peak hours (some evenings, the weekend, etc.) you can definitely find times when it’s completely free.
• Computers/Printing: There is a spacious computer lounge on the first floor that is often empty with a PawPrint printer station by the entrance (also useful for the Columbia student with a class in Hamilton and an assignment they forgot was due in 10 minutes).
• Bike Storage: None
• Gym: The building doesn’t have one, but you and your suitemates can turn your lounge into one?
• Elevators: Two of the most consistent elevators on campus, but one only goes to the ninth floor while the sky lounge is on the 10th (which is an underrated study spot).
• Hardwood/Carpet: Carpet, everywhere—unless you are lucky and get one of the rare hardwood-flooring Hartley rooms. The bathrooms and kitchens have tile-esque flooring. 
• Bonus: Again, the “Hartley Hospitality Desk,” which is Columbia Housing’s 24-hour help desk, is helpfully located right by the entrance door to Hartley! This means that when something inevitably breaks  you are very close to the people who will fix it.

Room variety:

• Singles: 158 singles with the smallest being 92 square feet and the largest being a giant 176 square foot singles on the 10th floor. Generally, all the singles are around 100-115ish and there is one smaller single in every suite. 
• Doubles: 36 mostly spacious doubles. The doubles on the outer A and C suites are all 200+ square feet while the doubles in the B suites are generally smaller with the smallest being 176 square feet. There are two doubles in the outer suites and four in the inner suites.
• The views are generally good but views on the North and South edges of the building could be viewed into Hamilton classrooms or facing Wallach. There is a good amount of natural light available in each room.
• Some rooms (or all?) have a cubby space above the door where there is a lot of room to store stuff. Between this and the built-in closets in some rooms, the square-foot measurements are a bit misleading, because there is actually somewhere to store all of your stuff!
• Every room has moveable shelves which can be placed pretty much anywhere on the wall, and the walls are completely pin-board, so it’s super easy to hang things everywhere.

Stats:

It’s an all sophomore building! So (surprise!) Room Selection 2023 data shows that the students who selected into this building were 100% sophomores.

• 95% of students who selected into this building participated as part of a group
  • 27% were in mixed point groups with an average point value of 23
  • 73% were in rising sophomores groups

Bwog recommendation:

• Some suites are quiet, while some are really fun and throw parties and hangouts and are good friends. Either way, you can definitely choose how you wanna live at Hartley.
• You can have a close-knit with your suite or choose to lone-wolf it.
• While the dorms are old and definitely need renovations, friends and I consistently agreed that having a Hartley suite would be the best housing option at Columbia, especially if it was renovated. 
• I did not see any roaches or rats during my visit, but it is NYC…
• It is very important to communicate with your suitemates about cleanliness and responsibilities and be self aware!! Remember suites are shared spaces!
• “It exists”

Resident opinions:

• “Communicate with your suitemates! I personally love it this year because me and my roommates have not run into any major issues and we all really vibe together. I love leaving my room and hanging out with them. But it really does depend on your suitemates. Wishing everybody luck with that!”
• “I feel like your experience at Hartley definitely comes down to the people in your suite – and I feel like I lucked out big time!!”
• “It’s the perfect balance of privacy (mostly singles) and shared social space (suite lounges). The sky lounge is a great place to study and the game lounge is super popular.”
• “The bathrooms are not the prettiest but after living in John Jay last year, I’m not complaining too much.”

Hartley via Bwog Archives