What A Grand Entrance

Have you found a place to live yet? (Sorry, too personal? Too bad.) Housing continues, and we’re still rolling out the reviews. For this installment of housing reviews, we’re going just around the River bend…

Location: 628 West 114th Street (AKA “River”) between Broadway and Riverside Drive.

• Nearby dorms: Shapiro, Broadway, Hogan… somewhat.
• Stores and restaurants: M2M, Starbucks, Morton Williams, Halal, Sweetgreen, Lerner (is Lerner a restaurant?)

Cost:

• $8,842/year

Amenities:

• Bathrooms: Four shared, gender inclusive, private bathrooms per floor
• AC/Heat: No AC; you’ll remain toasty year round.
• Kitchen/Lounge: Two shared lounge-kitchens on every floor (one per suite), complete with seating, television, refrigerator, oven, microwave, and dishwasher. Residents can be as domestic as they like in this fine abode.
• Laundry: Located in the basement with four washers/dryers, all free.
• Computers/Printers: A computer lab is located in the basement with one shared printer.
• Gym: Fitness room with treadmill, elliptical, and other various athletic equipment located in the basement.
• Intra-transportation: One elevator and one stairwell for six floors, though the basement is only accessible by elevator.
• Wifi: Yes.
• Hardwood/Carpet: Hardwood.
• Facilities: Residents are responsible to maintain kitchens and room/suite trash. Bathrooms are cleaned weekly be facilities, and recycling is removed on a weekly basis as well.
• Additional Fun, aka Bonus: Music practice room available in the basement.

Room Variety:

• Total of 127 singles and one walk through double on the first floor. There are around thirty “big” singles and 97 smaller singles. Room sizes range around 110-145 sq. ft.
• Largest singles are the corner rooms so those tend to go quickly.
• Many of the larger rooms have river views. Alternatively, many of the side rooms are shafted.

Numbers:

• Last year cutoff for the large singles was 30/1718.
• Last year cutoff for the other singles was 20/2717.
• Overall, mostly seniors with some juniors. (It’s easier to get as a junior in a mixed senior group).

Bwog Recommendation:

• Close to Riverside Park for your daily dose of nature, River is full of quiet, spacious singles.
• While the uphill walk to campus might seem intimidating initially, by second semester you’ll be blessed with glutes of steel. While some claim River is a touch anti-social, the suite style living and close proximity to both Broadway and campus mean you’ll have at least some daily interaction.
• To get a bigger single, a point value of 30 or higher is going to be necessary. For those with 20, don’t get your hopes up too high.
• Keep in mind that river views are less likely than they seem.

Resident Opinions:

• “The basement lounge and fitness rooms are really nice… also the ever present jazz music from the jazz house on the first floor with accompanying notes of weed. Worst part is the wind on 114th in the winter, the lack of AC, and the hill you have to walk up to get to Broadway.”
• “Vibe in one word: weedy.”
• “Residents are known as River Rats because they stay in their room and don’t leave.”
• “The heating in the winter registers as a balmy 87 degrees on my thermometry and Alex from the Hartley desk had the audacity to tell me that my ‘equipment must be malfunctioning’ but really the heater is just that high from October to March. Basically you’ll be sleeping with a humidifier and your windows open in January if you don’t want to feel like you’re living at the equator.”
• “No closets, only wardrobes.”
• “The basement lounge is a great place to hang out. I’m satisfied with my single but wish I chose a worse off room in Broadway or Schap because the facilities there are so much nicer.”