Riverside Drive apartment building
When last week I finally got my Columbia University summer housing assignment notice, I was shocked and dismayed to discover that I had been placed in the dormitory equivalent of a gulag: a tiny, non-air-conditioned double with a stranger whose name sounded suspiciously devious.
I had registered for housing with three of my friends—they, too, had had their dreams dashed by the Columbia housing assignment system. But, while I had silently accepted my fate as a prisoner of my cramped double, one of my friends suggested we find an apartment in the city and ditch the dorms.
Now anyone who has ever gone apartment-hunting in New York City knows that it takes weeks, months, or maybe even years to find the “right” apartment. We only had days to secure living arrangements before our internships and classes were to begin. Plus, we were on a budget and—even in a recession—Manhattan isn’t cheap.
1 Comment | Posted on May 28, 2009 | Categories: From the Blog, Manhattan, Morningside Heights, Upper West Side
