One of the most challenging aspects of moving to a grand metropolis like New York is finding good, safe, and affordable housing. The city’s egalitarian attitude (meaning nobody cares about who you were before you got to New York, it’s all about what you do while you’re here) can make this task, on top of all the other properties of moving, practically impossible. Lucky for the BFA’s taking on this move, we had the luck of having Cornell tackle this problem for us, solving it by moving us right into our new home: The House at Cornell Tech.
The Cornell Tech campus is the newest addition to Cornell University, Roosevelt Island, and the greater graduate-and-beyond STEM community. It’s a joint partnership between Cornell University and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. It was born out of the successful win of a competition launched in 2010 by then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg to develop an elite graduate school of engineering and applied sciences in New York City.
“The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time,” wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby, “in its first wild promise of all the mystery and beauty in the world.” Cornell Tech is located beneath the Queensboro bridge on the southern part of the narrow Roosevelt Island, a 2-mile long hidden treasure lying parallel between the Upper East Side in Manhattan and Long Island City in Queens. If New York City is The Office, Manhattan is Michael Scott (excitable, self-centered, attention seeking, fantasy thinking…) and Roosevelt Island is Jim Halpert (fun, loyal, low-drama, peaceful). The attitude of Roosevelt Island is insanely optimistic, something you can feel after exiting the single subway station and out onto the island. Not only does it have fantastic landscape views of Manhattan, Queens, and beyond, it is easily accessed by the F train from Manhattan; the F goes straight through Midtown with many ideal stopping stations (Bryant Park, Herald Square…) and as a transfer to the 4, 5, and 6 local and express trains, which take you downtown (and more importantly, to class). Overall, it’s around a 6-minute walk from the House to the train station, and the walk along the East River facing Manhattan and beneath the Queensboro bridge makes it an extremely pleasant commute.
The House at Cornell Tech is new both in age and in technology; as the world’s tallest certified passive house building (eco-conscious living), it’s truly a wonderful place to live. Living there provides residents with access to not only the lounge area in the main lobby, but a fully equipped gym, laundry services, and communal areas on the 23rd penthouse floor (which include studying spots, a television, pool tables), as well as a practically panoramic balcony view of Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan, equipped with seating and barbecues for the summertime. In addition, there is free WiFi, mail package rooms, vending machines, and rent paid through your bursar bill, making the entire experience hassle-free. The new facilities make everything aesthetically pleasant and calming to relax in, making kids coming from Ithaca’s Collegetown rentals feel like we’re living at the Plaza Hotel.
For BFA’s, we are provided housing together; this year, the five of us who are living at the House are situated on the 16th floor, a few doors down from each other. Each apartment has two bathrooms, three bedrooms, a communal hallway closet and living space, which includes a fully equipped kitchen, living room, and dining space. The apartments come with more than enough amenities; we were shocked to arrive and see our drawers and cabinets were fully stocked with anything we would need, from pots, pans, plates, cutlery, to detergent, dish soap, sponges and more. An iron and ironing board are also included. In the bedrooms, besides a beautiful bed frame and mattress, you’re provided a lamp that lights up the entire room, a dresser, closet, and bedside table. The apartment is designed in the best way; while it resembles the familiar look of a white cube gallery space, this blank canvas of an apartment provides tons of flexibility in terms of personal decoration.
Living at Cornell Tech: The House has been one of the most exciting parts of the AAP NYC program. Its fantastic to have a safe, comfortable place to head back to every night. The House has everything, and we’re fortunate to be able to call it our home!
