A great choice for seniors and lucky juniors looking for quieter, apartment-style living. Beware the G line.

Location: 431 Riverside Drive

• Nearby dorms: Schapiro, 627 West 115th St., River Hall, Greenborough, Potluck House
• Stores and restaurants: Morton Williams, Hooda Halal (cart), Shake Shack, and essentially anything close to campus along Broadway.

Cost

Projected to be $12,180, the standard Upperclass housing rate.

Amenities

Bathrooms: One per suite. Contains a coveted bathtub. In years prior, the bathrooms were cleaned weekly by facilities, but they aren’t anymore.

AC/Heating: No AC, so it can get quite stuffy in the summer. Beware the radiators, as they will wake you up at night with their clanking and hissing. They also can’t be turned off.

Kitchen: A small kitchen with too many cupboards and too little counter space. Gas stove, but no fume hood, so make sure you keep your window open. No microwaves, but if you get there early there might be some in the basement from previous residents.

Lounge: None. No common areas in this building.

Laundry: Six well-kept washing machines and six also well-kept dryers in the basement.

Fire escapes: All apartments have either fire escapes or fire doors—check the floor plans.

Gym: There is a “fitness room” on the first floor, containing two treadmills and two elliptical machines.

Intra-transportation: A single stairwell that goes to every floor (except the basement), and one very small and very slow elevator (the only way to get to the basement).

Hardwood/Carpet: All carpet except the bathroom and kitchen. Linoleum otherwise.

Bike Storage: There are some racks in the basement.

Room Variety

• 81 total apartments. All but three are one-bedroom. The three two-bedrooms have no living room. Size and shape vary significantly depending on the line. See the floor plans to learn the architecture.
• Lines are traditionally sorted into high, medium, and low demand.
  • The C, K, and H lines are considered high demand. H and C are spacious with nice views of Riverside drive, and K is enormous.
  • The A, B, E, F, J, and L lines are all medium demand. These have good access to sunlight (except the B line, which is functionally shafted by the adjacent building), a good amount of space, and are easy to partition into two different rooms.
  • The G, D, and I lines are low demand. The G and D lines are shafted and the I line is small. In the I and G lines, the bathroom can only be accessed by walking through the main bedroom.

Stats

According to the Columbia Housing website, 2023 data shows that the students who selected into this building were 98% seniors and 2% juniors.

• 100% of students who selected into this building participated as part of a group
  • 4% were in mixed-point groups with an average point value of 35
  • 96% were in rising seniors groups

Bwog Recommendation

No matter the line, you’ll have way more space than you’re used to. You also have a private bathroom and kitchen, which is a huge plus (especially if your roommate never cooks). However, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows (literally, because no sunlight); the radiators are extremely loud and prone to leaks, the building often loses hot water, and being shafted can make life very gloomy. Some of the rooms also lack overhead lights, and the provided lamps are not the best. If you get a shafted dorm, make sure to pack a lot of extra lamps!

In short, if you have a choice, avoid the G line. If you get one of the high demand lines (or anything except the G line, frankly), you should count your lucky stars.

Anecdotes

• “It takes some getting used to. I love having a kitchen and a larger living space, but sometimes I feel like this place is alive and hates me” (Author).
• “Either way too hot or way too cold. In the summer, it was so hot I couldn’t breathe.”
• “Very cozy in the winter.”