Coral Towers

Those who have been inside Coral Towers residence hall realize the name is a definite misnomer: It is just one tower, and there is nothing aquatic about it.

That said, Coral, located on the corner of Third Avenue and 14th Street in the East Village, is among the most convenient upperclassman dorm NYU has to offer, with a Duane Reade downstairs, a Starbucks on the block and Union Square just a couple of blocks away. The NYU campus is also just an easy 15 to 20 minute walk away.

The suites and individual rooms in Coral are hit-or-miss. The most spacious suites on each floor are the -07 ones, which house six people in three doubles and have two bathrooms — one of which is inside the C bedroom — and a relatively large kitchen and common area with tons of furniture to relax on. One downside to the living situation, however, is the very limited closet space; many rooms have one small closet, so some residents use one of the closets in the common room to store their clothes and shoes.

One of the biggest drawbacks of living in Coral is the laundry situation. Because the building is leased to NYU, the washers and dryers cannot be activated with Campus Cash. Residents have to either get a laundry card from the basement or carry their laundry a block over to Palladium residence hall's laundry facility that accepts Campus Cash.

Despite some of its downsides, Coral is a fairly small, friendly and welcoming upperclassman dorm, and residents have pretty much everything they need (and want) at their fingertips. Did I mention the Duane Reade and Starbucks?

Address: 129 Third Ave.
Price: shared single bedroom ($15,260.00); shared studio, 2-3 students ($13,108.00); 3 bedroom suites, 2-6 students ($13,108.00); low-cost 3 bedroom suites, 2-6 students ($10,874.00)
Laundry: $1.75 per wash/dry
Subway: NQRWLV/456
Walk to campus: 15 minutes
*Prices based on 2009-10 academic year room rates per student