Living in Olin Hall, at 69th and York, has its benefits. Using Cornell’s facilities, you don’t have to deal with finding an apartment for the semester, which can be very time consuming and expensive. You also have free access to a gym, a game room and basketball court. The basketball court, which often becomes a field for volleyball, dodge ball or soccer, is really great to have. We use it often. Furthermore, depending on preferences, you might be happy to be mixed in with other Cornell students, although mostly all graduates studying medicine. You are given a very decent single room, although small, and share a bathroom with another single room. However, I’m sure if I were to poll the AAP students living here, I believe almost all wished they had found alternative housing.
The Upper East Side is very quiet, though it is not a very fun part of the city to be in. For crowded public squares, different restaurants, plus galleries, movie theaters, nightlife, etc. you must use the subway to get to other neighborhoods. The 6-line subway that runs down Lexington is a good ten-minute walk from our address, even though there is a stop at 68th Street. It’s also a crowded line to take during rush hours and you sometimes have to wait for one or two subways before you make it on one. If we didn’t live on the Upper East Side, it seems like we would never venture there. All our course and leisure time are spent in other areas of Manhattan. The AAP center is located near Union square, where you would exit from the subway to then walk another few avenues before getting to the architecture and art studios.
Anyway, the commute from Olin Hall to Union Square has become part of our daily lives, consuming about an hour of everyday. Here it is in 58 seconds.
Our commute video