I hope I’m not jinxing it when I say we’ve had no roaches this year.

Location: 616 West 116th

• Nearby dorms: 600, 620, Quad/Sulzberger Tower (closest entrance is main campus gate), Elliot, Woodbridge, Schapiro, and Claremont. 
• Stores and restaurants: Shake Shack, Morton Williams, Pret, and food trucks. Within two blocks are also Starbucks and Sweetgreen.

Cost: $13,712 for the academic year (2025-2026).

Amenities:

• Bathrooms: Two public bathrooms on the first floor, one bathroom per suite with bath/shower, toilet, sink, and trash can.
• AC/Heating: Window AC units and seasonal heating.
• Kitchen: All kitchens come with a refrigerator, sink, oven and stovetop, a table, and chairs. Some suites also have dishwashers which may or may not work. 
• Lounges: Communal lounge on the first floor includes a piano, couches, tables/chairs, and a communal bookcase with several board games.The computer lab has two printers that usually work, and several computers. 
• Laundry: Basement laundry room has six washers and eight dryers. It’s usually easy to get a machine (even on the weekends). I have spotted the occasional roach.
• Hardwood/Carpet: Linoleum tile.

Room Variety:

• Six-person suites have two singles and two doubles; five-person suites have three singles and one double.

Numbers from the 2025 Lottery: 

• Of the 26 groups to choose suites in the 4/5/6 lottery, 7 were rising senior groups, 6 were mixed years, 11 were rising juniors, and 2 were rising sophomores.
• Of the 32 people to choose rooms in the 1/2/3 lottery, 11 were rising seniors, 3 were rising juniors, and 18 were rising sophomores.

Bwog recommendation: 

In my opinion, 616 gives you the best of everything: relatively spacious rooms, AC, a great laundry room, and you’re super close to campus, but not right on Broadway where you can hear everything happening on the street below. The elevators are small but fast. Plus, having a public bathroom and computer lab available really comes in handy for those times when you’re in a rush but your suite bathroom is occupied, or you need to print something right before class. The lobby is welcoming (they just installed new lights for some reason?), and a direct walk from the Claremont entrance to Barnard. As with most buildings, the heat is way too much during the winter (as well as being loud), and you’ll run into the occasional maintenance issue. 616 does seem to have a higher rate of maintenance issues than other buildings based on my own impression. In my time here, we’ve had toilet issues, ceiling leaking issues, mold issues, dishwasher issues (at least we had one at all), and an unresolved missing cabinet door that was gone when we moved in. That said, 616 is probably my favorite building of the ones I’ve lived in. It’s not the most modern or updated, but if you can snag an unshafted room, you’ve got a beautiful view, usable facilities, and no bugs or roaches. Our window was open for like a week for a repaint and we still somehow had no bugs. I will miss my room dearly when I have to move out.

Resident opinions:

• “No roaches in my room, which is my highest priority.”
•  “Cozy.”

Images via author and Bwog Archives