Second on our gorgeous lineup of housing reviews is Broadway Hall, a solid option for upperclassman singles.

Location: 556 West 114th Street, right next to the Beta house and across the street from Lerner.

Nearby dorms: Hogan (it’s connected to Broadway), Carman, Ruggles, and the 114th street brownstones.

Stores and restaurants: Anything on Broadway or 114th will be super accessible. In terms of groceries and everyday buys, Morton Williams is right across the street, and Duane Reade is a close two blocks away. For quick meals, your classic Sweetgreen, Pret, Dig Inn, Strokos, and NY Basics are all easily accessible. For sit-down food, Community and Tom’s Restaurant are your go-tos.

Cost: All upperclassman housing at Columbia costs $9,538.

Amenities: 

  • Bathrooms:
    • Every floor has four dormitory-style bathrooms, cleaned daily Monday-Friday. There are two individual shower stalls per bathroom, and aren’t really that large.
    • Two are assigned female and two male, but reach out to your RA if you want to set up one as a gender-neutral space.
  • AC/Heating: Broadway has both. Residents have full control of the fan speed of the A/C and heater!
  • Kitchen:
    • There’s a small standing-room-only kitchen on each floor (around 100 square feet), with a microwave, two ovens, and multiple stovetops. There is also a bit of counter and cabinet space.
    • How heavily the kitchen is used depends on your floor, but we’ve heard that the kitchen tends to be pretty empty.
  • Lounge:
    • The two Broadway sky lounges on the top floor are beautiful, with lots of natural light and multiple tables to study from. One of them even (newly) has the piano, which John Jay lounge previously housed!
    • There is one huge lounge on each floor, with multiple sofas, chairs, and two wooden tables.
    • There’s also a lounge on the first floor with a few different tables – it’s often used as a more social study space or by student groups.
  • Laundry:
    • One laundry room is in the basement, with nine dryers and 11 washers. You’ll have plenty of space to do your laundry, given the number of residents in the entire building (~350).
  • Computers/Printing: 
    • One printer is in the building lobby.
    • There’s also a computer lab on the third floor, with another printer and eight computers.
  • Gym: There’s a gym on the fourth floor, with one elliptical, two treadmills, and a bike.
  • Intra-transportation:
    • Three elevators. They are truly some of Columbia’s most efficient elevators, and also hold lots of space. This is not your grandmother’s elevator system anymore.
  • Hardwood/Carpet: Rooms have hardwood-esque floors, while lounges and hallways have carpet.
  • Bonus: There’s bike storage in the basement!

Room variety:

  • Broadly, there are 300 singles and 36 doubles in Broadway.
  • Columbia Housing breaks this up into seven types: interior singles, singles, large singles, small doubles, interior doubles, doubles, and large doubles.
  • Singles:
    • Most singles range from 101-125 square feet.
    • Singles face West Broadway, South near downtown, or North towards campus.
    • There are ten large singles larger than 134 square feet: 305, 405, and singles ending in -07 on floors 6-13.
  • Doubles:
    • Most doubles are small doubles – room numbers ending in -39 and -40. They’re around 162-165 square feet, near the Broadway side of each floor without great views.
    • There are 14 nicer doubles – room 340, room 402, room 456, and room numbers ending in -22. They range from 170-214 square feet, and have nicer views of Broadway.

Numbers:

  • You can only pick into a Broadway single through online selection, and you can’t elect to get a few Broadway singles next to each other.
  • Last year, the last interior single was taken by 11.66/349. The last large single was taken by 20/2155, and the last regular single was taken by 10/37.
  • The last interior double was taken by 10/2231, the last large double was taken by 10/2189, the last regular double was taken by 10/2189, and the last small double was taken by 10/2630.

Bwog recommendation:

  • The location of Broadway is prime, right across from Ferris/Carman and centrally located on Broadway.
  • However, the social scene can be at times lacking, unless you’re rooming next to a friend.
  • The building itself is beautiful, with huge sky lounges and fast elevator systems. However, the relatively not-great bathroom situation (see above) and odd little kitchens can be put-offs.
  • Also another gorgeous bonus is that our wonderful Editor-in-Chief (who definitely did not write this post) will be RA-ing on Broadway floor 3 next year, and it’s pretty much going to be the best floor in any Columbia residence hall, ever. Can I get a hooyah!!

Resident opinions:

  • “I really like it and I think it’s definitely underrated as a dorm. It’s super close to campus, we have heating units which we can turn on/off and control the temperature whenever we want, and the singles are all nicely renovated.”
  • “The bathroom situation is not the best but you get used to it. We also have a kitchen which I/the majority don’t really use but you easily can.”
  • “The views are nice – I overlook Broadway which I really like and I know some of the higher rooms have stunning views of downtown. Being ‘shafted’ is not too big of a deal because there is so much natural light that still enters.”
  • “It was nice in that it was very close to campus and so so convenient, and I had a single room. But there’s 0 community there and I felt so isolated and lonely
    I was essentially living there by myself.”

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