Residence Hall

Don’t do it to yourself. And they will not let you out of your lease at all so think it through and then look at everyone’s review and realize you shouldn’t.

I didn’t really have a lot of options for where to live when I had my offer for an internship in NYC (Brooklyn, to be specific), so I decided to live here after doing as much research as I could. I hoped for the best and took a chance, and I really hope I don’t make that same mistake again (I’ve grown a lot since January 2013).
Context: I lived here for four months, between January and April 2013, after getting a «custom-​tailored» contract to live here. I’m not a student of any school within 50 miles of NYC, but the rules to live there (since it’s privately owned) is that you have to be enrolled «in any college /​university», of which I was! (University of Waterloo)
It was decent enough to live in for a first-​timer to NYC, but it was in a really weird neighbourhood, as the only grocery store within a reasonable walking distance was Target, and they didn’t have the best selection of groceries when I had to restock to make my lunches for the week.
It wasn’t that cheap, though — I believe after everything came down, it cost ~$ 6400 for a four-​month commitment. That’s ~$ 1600 a month to live in a crappy area of Brooklyn — I wouldn’t recommend it!
The facilities were sub-​par — the on-​site gym wasn’t worth using, the study room was always empty (I like ambiance), as was the «communal break/​rec room». The RAs were basically ghosts — I never got a great chance to meet anyone or hang out, since the events were all during work hours, and the RAs didn’t seem to plan weekend outings of events whatsoever (I hope that’s improved!)
The laundry machines «worked», but they were annoying since it wasn’t based on coins, but based on some card system where you had to buy this chip card from a dispenser, then load the card with money, then stick it into the individual washer/​dryer you were using. Troublesome and cumbersome, it was (I feel) an entirely unnecessary part of my experience. I think, considering the fees we pay, we should just use a coin-​based system, or something similar, since it worked everywhere else I’ve ever lived! (or y’know, a credit-​card reader or something)
The rooms are kinda tiny, and you have to take out your own garbage & whatnot. It’s like an «apartment-​style» lifestyle, but definitely costs more like a traditional residence. I definitely expected many more amenities than what I received, but I didn’t really know any better. If I had to make a choice now, it’d definitely be for the closer, better neighbourhood & cost efficiency of the 92Y residence.
At least this place was close to a few half-​decent restaurants and fast food places, as well as the subway (2) line. Sucks that there were homeless people constantly lining the streets of the walk between my residence and the subway station — I definitely had a few nights where I felt unsafe coming home.
One of the security guards in particular was really friendly and helpful to me, so I gave him the massive umbrella I bought from Groupon when I was leaving. I don’t exactly remember his name, but I still remember my first night there, when I got lost trying to walk home after 11pm, and since all of the buildings looked the same, I couldn’t find this place — took me almost an hour to get home from walking less than five minutes away to the nearest food place!

Agreed. Do NOT move here. Truly a waste of money, what you’re paying could get you an apartment of your own where you don’t have to deal with this crap.
1. DIRTY: The person who posted all the pictures (who I assume is the owner of this private «business») must have taken them years and years ago because ALL couches and ALL chairs are ripped and stained ALL over by god knows what. The common room and quiet study rooms are barely even used. The stairways have dust EVERYWHERE.
2. Incompetent Staff: the RAs are nothing more than your typical disinterested, self righteous college students. Why are they left to run the show? Today in the dorms there was an EXTREME LEAK! I’m talking EXTREME. My room got the least of it, but they were full on puddles in the hallways of floors 2 and 3. All the while, the RAs completely ignored us when we went for help. They wouldn’t even give us a freaking bucket for the water. The dude didn’t even acknowledge our presence and just said «we know and were working on it». THEY WERE GIVING A F*CKING TOUR WHILE OUR ROOMS WERE FLOODING EVERYONE! Our water is still brown, our bathroom is unusable, our carpets are WET.
3. «Security»: it’s just for show. If someone wanted to get in, they could. Really, the security only inconveniences you if you want to sign an overnight guest in after 9pm. Really? This isn’t summer camp… Were paying to live here we should be able to sign people in at our leisure. Were technically adults!
Other things: vending machine always out of drinks on all floors, garbage piles up outside the chute when the chute is full and you can smell it all through the dorms. Recycling is the same way. Walls are basically built of paper. Every time a door shuts the walls shake. I can hear the vibration from my neighbors cell phone through the walls next door. They don’t even refill the toilet paper in the bathrooms.
Long story short: don’t move here. It’s a scam by the landlord who’s making a huge profit off of all of us. Myself included, unfortunately. The RAs just said themselves: the landlord is very cheap so he will try to get out of repairing our rooms after this flood. That speaks volumes. DONT MOVE HERE!

DO NOT MOVE HERE!!!
This is actually not part of Brooklyn College this is a private owned company that uses Brooklyn college name. This has to be the worst management ever! As a future business owner my first priority would be to take care of your customers and they will take care of you. This phrase is as foreign to them as the owner who is from Israel. They take advantage of students by pressuring them with emails stating the rooms are almost full and there is no guarantee for rooms without down-​payment. They promote a «discount» if you sign up for two years. They do this because they know once you find out how much you can get your own place for you will want to move. You can find a decent room around Brooklyn college for $ 500-​$ 700 a month. You will pay $ 4500 for 5 months to live in the ghetto in the cheapest room (room A), which is probably the same size as a jail cell with a bunk-​bed included you will also get a roommate. It’s not even worth it for New York Standards.
The office staff has changed 2 times during the one semester I stayed there. They don’t even know your name or care. The only time they contact you is to pay your bill. If you don’t do it they will threaten to throw you out immediately, constantly. Which, is is Illegal but they don’t expect the students to know that. I moved in because I had nowhere else to go. The staff member at the time tried to pressure me into getting a private loan to pay my deposit to hold my room that was not «guaranteed». I later found out they allowed another resident to not pay their deposit at that moment, So, basically they will tell you anything. When I eventually moved in my room was dirty due to my roommate already moving in months beforehand. They told me they will not clean it because my roommate was already there and I had to put in a request because they had other rooms to clean. I than had to go out and buy cleaning products and clean my room. That was a nice welcome! not even a welcome package to live in a «dormitory». The entire building was also infested with fruit flies!
This place has no business structure at all. The bookkeeper is rude and is incompetent. I do not recommend this to anyone save your money and a give it to someone who would appreciate it. I am currently trying to get the resident hall revoked from promoting it’s business to Brooklyn College students. They should not be allowed to take advantage of students! You cant even get financial aid for it since its not apart of the school.