Felicity Wilberg
How will you spend your Thanksgiving break?
This may be the only chance in your life to have a Fifth Avenue mailing address. Looking up Fifth Avenue and watching the Empire State Building's lights change every night should catch any prospective NYU freshman's eye. Located at 35 Fifth Ave., Rubin is an all-freshman residence hall with a quaint lobby and an impressive list of alumni — Mark Twain once lived here.
Once an up-scale hotel, the dorm offers relatively large rooms. But the lack of air conditioning means you'll have to suffer through the summer heat. Rubin also offers a newly renovated lounge on the second floor featuring a flat-screen TV, ping pong table, dance studio, blackbox theater and darkroom. Also located on the second floor is Rubin's study lounge, which provides residents with a place to hang out if they need a place to get away from their books, or a place to hit them.
The dining hall at Rubin is convenient, but not always tasty. But the grilled cheese sandwich is something every student must try. Rubin houses a great community, including several Explorations floors. And despite what freshmen living in Weinstein tell you, I found Rubin's location to be idyllic. It's only a five minute walk to both the subway and campus.
Address: 35 Fifth Ave.
Price: shared single bedroom ($11,354.00); 1-2 room suites, 2-5 students ($9,212.00); low-cost triples ($6,620.00)
Laundry: $1 per wash/dry
Subway: NQRW/456/L
Walk to campus: Five minutes
*Prices based on 2009-10 academic year room rates per student
