Dean D'Agati (dotcom)

Friends of mine know all about Gramercy since I’ve blogged about it before and talk (brag) about it all the time now, but I wanted to write a post specifically talking about the pros and cons of Gramercy since it’s the time of year that everyone is checking out dorms for next year, and when I was trying to find info about Gramercy last year online, there wasn’t any.

My posts generally show up pretty high in Google searches, so if you’re an NYU student who came across this page through Google, here are some deetz that you won’t find on the NYU Housing site and a video tour to go along with it.

Gramercy Green is a dorm for sophomores. It’s technically for “upperclassmen,” but since it’s the most popular dorm on campus, you’re chances of getting it if you’re not a sophomore are slim to none. It was originally built as a luxury apartment building, so it has styles of all kinds, but every apartment will have:
-Hardwood floors
-A huge kitchen with stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, and a touch screen microwave.
-An all-marble bathroom with ridic water pressure in the shower.
-Floor to ceiling or almost floor to ceiling windows (depending on the style).

Gramercy has rooms for 2-6 people. I live in a studio, so it’s just me and my roommate, and I would definitely recommend the studio option because it’s a HUGE space for just two people. It’s more space than my bedroom & common room combined last year at U-Hall and the kitchen and bathroom are only shared by 2 people. They also have two-bedroom suites for 4 people, three-bedroom suites for 5 people, and three-bedroom suites for 6 people. (Rooms with 4+ people have two bathrooms so that’s another plus.) There might also be an option for 3 people too but I’m not actually sure.

Here are some pros & cons.

PROS:
-Amenities. Kitchen, bathroom, wood floors and everything else I just mentioned.
-More space than you’ll get at most other dorms.
-EVERYTHING is new. The building is less than 2 years old, not some historic 200 year old landmark that hasn’t been renovated in 87 years.
-The Sub-Cellar has TV lounges, a game room, private & group study rooms, a gym, and more crazyness.
-There are laundry rooms on the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 11th, 14th, 16th, 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st floor as well as a big one in the cellar. I KNOW RIGHT!? It’s amazing.
-The neighborhood is awesome. 3 blocks from Madison Square Park (and Shake Shack!) which is one of my favorite parks in NYC. The streets around the building aren’t always crowded like they are in Union Square.
-Duane Reade on the ground floor.

CONS:
-It’s far from campus. The walk is about 20-25 depending on the lights & how fast you walk. There is a bus, but it’s often unreliable and ALWAYS crowded. Trying to take the bus to get to 9:30 class is a deathwish. I don’t mind the walk if it’s nice out, but it can be tough in the winter.
-It’s nowhere near NYU Dining. The closest dining hall is Palladium, which is still 9 blocks away.
-The elevators are ALWAYS a problem. We only have 3 elevators here, and the building is like 22 stories or something. They are always crowded and always require a pretty significant wait. The views are great on the upper floors (I live on 17) but it would definitely be to your benefit to get something lower so you can use the stairs.
-The fire alarm goes off…. A LOT. And when I mean a lot, I don’t mean like once a month or something. It goes off every single week. Sometimes multiple times during the week. We’ve had three 2AM evacuations so far this year. The smoke detectors are extremely sensitive so when idiot kids fail at cooking or light up in their rooms, the whole building will be evacuated… and like I said, elevators are always a problem. It’s not fun trying to get back in.
-The soundproofing between rooms is great because I never hear my neighbors, but the sound proofing between your room and the hallway is nonexistent. In fact, I hear people screaming out there as I type these words. And a dog barking. Sweet.
-It’s more of a residential area so there are less stores and restaurants that are open 24/7 than there are in the Union Square area.

Here is a video I made at the beginning of the year. I made it for Facebook, that’s why it feels like I’m talking to specific people, but hopefully it can help you guys out, too.

Despite the cons, I definitely still recommend Gramercy for your sophomore year.

If you have any questions, post them down in the comments and I’ll try to help you out.

dean Pictures, Text, Videos 17th floor, bus, campus, cons, dorm, gramercy, help, nyc, nyu, pros

Last night I went to go see CollegeHumor Offline which was a live 90-minute show featuring all the guys (and Sarah!) from the CH Originals sketches (like Brohemian Rhapsody, POV: Guy Stuck in Class, and Prank War).

The show was awesome and it was at the Gramercy Theatre which is literally two blocks away from where I live, but the greatest part of the night was actually meeting the cast after the show. Amir even gave a shoutout to his favorite website ever:

Here are some more pics… Click to enlarge.

More video is coming soon!

dean Pictures, Text, Videos amir, cast, collegehumor, gramercy, jake, meet, nyc, offline, sarah

I live in Gramercy Green right now. The nicest dorm at NYU. How did that happen? Because for some reason, sophomores get first pick of dorms. Seniors get second pick, and Juniors get last, so basically as a Junior next year, I’m screwed. (Freshmen have their own dorms.)

Honestly, I’m so done with dorm living. While I’ve been really lucky and had some really good roommates over the past year and a half, I just don’t like having a roommate. I want my own room… not to mention that as a Junior, I would be thrown in the shi…. um, crappiest dorms that you could ever imagine.

If I want to live on campus next year, I need to put down $1,000 by February 25th. But that’s just it. I don’t want to put that money down because I don’t want to live on campus. I want an apartment. My mom, however, is not feeling this because she thinks it’s going to cost too much money, not be safe, etc. (I can’t insult her on here because I’m pretty sure she reads my blog. Hi, mom.)

I’m having some problems though. Just about all of my best friends are either trying to become an RA, living in NYU housing, or already have plans elsewhere. So where do I live? Who do I live with? Can I get my own room?

All these needs to be figured out by the 25th, even though I can’t start apartment hunting until a month or so before I actually want to move in, which is in September.

Does anyone have any advice for me? =(
(deandagati@nyu.edu if you don’t want to post it on here)

dean Text apartment, dorm, gramercy, living, money, nyc, nyu, room

It’s Thursday night, and I go to sleep at around midnight with full intentions of finally getting a good night sleep. But of course that could never happen because at 1am the fire alarm goes of. Now, as we all know, I have some prior experience with fire alarm evacuations, but I live on the 17th floor, not to mention that it was 20 degrees outside, so this particular evacuation was nothing to rap about.

My first inclination was to just not go, but the last time I didn’t evacuate in the middle of the night, there turned out to be a real electrical fire. So, my roommate and I decided it would probably be a good idea to leave. We got up, got dressed, and slowly made our way down 17 flights of stairs along with 1,000 other Gramercy college kids, and then stood outside in the cold for about 15 minutes as the FDNY came, discovered that there was no fire, and left. We then waited another 15-20 minutes in the elevator line, trying to get back up to 17.

Eventually, we made it back, and were finally able to go to sleep… that is, until 8am… WHEN THE FIRE ALARM WENT OFF.

My first reaction: “WTFFMLKFSJHGFLDSGHDFJ!”

So we didn’t leave. FTS.
If my RA ever reads this, I’m just kidding, we actually did leave, so don’t write us up.

PS. We didn’t leave ;)

dean Pictures, Text cold, evacuation, fdny, fire, gramercy, nyc, nyu, sleep

Watch in HD or post COMMENTS on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1180410945836

dean Videos dorm, gramercy, nyc, nyu, tour

I posted some pictures of the dorm to Facebook last night!

Check them out hereeeee:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027885&id=1095030269&l=e94ee307ad

Video is also coming later this week!

dean Pictures, Text dorm, gramercy, nyc, nyu

It’s been a while since I’ve posted… probably because it’s been a crazy last few days… just like it’s been a crazy last few weeks… just like it’s been a crazy last few months. But OH! It’s allllllllll ova now!

First things first. All five films have somehow been completed. I like don’t even remember doing them. It’s crazy. They are being converted right now at NYU, and they told us that it usually takes like 10 days but that the guy who does it is out of town for like a month and that they’ll have someone else do it but it might not be as fast. So we’ll see. NYU is supposed to mail me both the film and the converted digital copies, so whenever they do, I’ll post them on Facebook. Hang tight.

I’ve spent the last like 4 days, incredibly sick, moving out of UHall. It was surprisingly sad! I’ve only lived there for 9 months, but it was my first college dorm. It’s all good though, because now I’ve got two months of Florida and then an even better dorm, at an even better address! 310 Third Ave. How sick is that?! (Anyone? No?) Well whatever. Now I’m home, feeling better, and ready to start my summer …as soon as the rain stops …which is never.

dean Pictures, Text cooper city, gramercy, nyc, nyu, uhall

SEE THAT!?
SEE THAT RIGHT THERE!?
That building is officially my home from September 2009 until May 2010… (and maybe next summer too! Who knows!?)

It’s NYU’s newest and most insanely cool dorm: GRAMERCY GREEN!
The rooms have hardwood floors, huge ass windows, granite kitchen countertops, marble bathrooms, and a fucking touch screen microwave!
It was originally supposed to be a luxury apartment building, but right when they were finishing construction last year, NYU bought it… and starting in September, I’ll be living in it! On the 17th floor! So all you Floridians that said “omg Dean I’m going to come visit you in New York every weekend” but never actually did (aka all of you), next year is the time to do it!!

As for the summer though, you can find me right here in UHall 1408A.

Here’s a tour somebody (strange) posted on YouTube. This is a two bedroom which I won’t have, but they all have the same look and feel. Oh, and it’s in Español so maybe one of you Spanish kids from Miami can translate it =)

dean Pictures, Text fall, gramercy, nyc, nyu