Wallach Hall

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See also Wikipedia's article about "Wallach Hall".

Wallach Hall is one of four residence halls for first years. It formerly made up the Living Learning Center. It was originally known as Livingston Hall.

History

Construction on Wallach started in 1904 and was completed in 1905. Wallach is, along with its twin, Hartley Hall, the oldest dormitory on campus. While Hartley was funded by the most mic-drop senior class gift of all time, Wallach was built with University funds to match young Marcellus Dodge. Both are part of the original McKim, Mead, and White Master Plan. Wallach was originally named Livingston Hall, after Robert R. Livingston, a King's College alumnus active in the American Revolution and the Constitutional Convention. This is ironic because Robert Livingston's uncle, William Livingston, had led some of the most vociferous opposition to the formation of King's College.

The building was renamed after Columbia College alumnus Ira D. Wallach, who donated $2 million for the building to be completely renovated in 1979, despite the voiced displeasure of alumni. Appropriately, a $2 million gift from alumnus Jerome L. Greene funded a simultaneous renovation of Hartley, though Greene, unlike Wallach, bowed to sentiment and eventually requested that Hartley not be renamed.

Notable residents

• Hal Chase, Beat Generation member
• Jack Giorno, poet who was Andy Warhol's lover
• Jack Kerouac, Beat Generation author, who preferred it over Hartley because his room there was a single, had a view of South Field rather than Amsterdam Avenue, and had fewer cockroaches.

Description

Wallach, like Hartley, has both singles and doubles of various sizes. Singles range from 94 sq ft to 130 sq ft and doubles from 194 sq ft to 222 sq ft. The 9th floor has larger rooms, and the 10th floor is for the building CPA and his or her friends.

Rooms used to be priced according to size, and the spendthrifts would therefore nab all the bigger rooms. Wallach was then incorporated in the LLC. Students who want to live in the LLC had tocomplete an extensive application. If they were accepted, they were then assigned a random lottery number. Students were then able to select an LLC room in order of seniority (senior, junior, sophomore), or if they have the same seniority, in order of lottery number. A large number of sophomores would apply in the hope of getting a single, thus avoiding the harsh reality of the normal student's housing lottery.

Wallach, along with Hartley, was no longer especially popular among seniors due to all these complications.

Wallach was recently renovated, removing the suites and turning it into a pseudo-Furnald. Hardwood floors, nicer bathrooms, and a fresh coat of paint make it significantly more desirable than Hartley. The walls are still paper-thin though.

As of 2024, Hartley now houses first-years.

Despite what the Columbia Housing website said until recently, Wallach has no laundry room and residents must use either the one in Hartley (accessible through the tunnel in the basement) or the one in John Jay (also through the basement).

Like Hartley, Wallach has an underwhelming "Sky Lounge" on the top floor which is a small room with skylights that is usually used for studying. Wallach also has an Esports Lounge located in the lobby.

Advantages

• Indoor access to John Jay and Hartley for dining hall and Hospitality Desk needs.
• Individual window AC units in each room that can be turned on any time of year
• Very spacious floor lounges on floors 3-9 with full kitchens (oven, stoves, microwave, sink, cabinets), a large table, couches, and a TV.
• Two fast elevators, one on each side of the building, which is efficient for traffic.
• Seven single-use bathrooms on each floor, that are spread throughout the hallways, preventing long lines. They are also mostly clean.
• The Gaming Lounge is on the first floor.

Disadvantages

• Has a reputation for being antisocial.
• Not as many people on each floor as John Jay or Carman
• The tunnel to the Hartley laundry room is musty.
• The doors are not fully soundproof; you can hear loud things that are outside your room.

Photos

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  Single 7A5, view 1

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  Single 7A5, view 2

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  Single 7A5, view 3

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  Single 7A8

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  Double 3B3, view 1

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  Double 3B3, view 2

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  B-suite lounge

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  B-suite kitchen

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  C-suite lounge

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  C-suite kitchen

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  Main lounge, view 1

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  Main lounge, view 2

Floor plans

(Some are outdated)

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  Floor 2

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  Floor 3

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  Floor 4

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  Floor 5

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  Floor 6

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  Floor 7

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  Floor 8

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  Floor 9

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  Floor 10

Map

<googlemap lat="40.806081" lon="-73.962077" type="map" zoom="16" width="500" height="300" controls="small"> 40.806081, -73.962077, Wallach residence hall </googlemap>

Building address

1116 Amsterdam Ave.
New York, NY 10025

Significant contributors

• Tao Tan

External links

• Columbia Housing - Wallach