Living near the CUNY Graduate Center without a car

Eleven minutes, on foot, to the front door of the building

The CUNY Graduate Center sits on Fifth Avenue at 34th Street. Seton Residence is on East 40th between Lexington and Third. That is eleven minutes of walking, across Midtown on level ground, past Bryant Park if you take the northern route or the Morgan Library if you take the southern one.

Eleven minutes is the number that changes behaviour. A twenty-minute commute is a decision you make each morning. An eleven-minute walk is not really a commute at all — you go back for the book you forgot.

What the transit score is actually measuring

This address scores 100 for transit and 98 for walking. The transit number is the maximum a Manhattan address is given, and it is not a rounding-up: Grand Central is four minutes away and carries the 4, 5, 6, 7 and S plus Metro-North, and the B, D, F and M are nine minutes away at Bryant Park.

In practice that means almost nowhere in the city requires a transfer, and nowhere requires a plan. It also means the winter version of the walk to class has a train underneath it if you would rather not.

A week without a car, concretely

The things that usually push people back into cars are groceries, laundry and the late trip home. All three are handled inside the block or inside the building.

• Groceries — Third Avenue, one block east
• Pharmacy — Lexington, half a block west
• Laundry — in the building, no trip at all
• Late return — Grand Central runs long past the point at which a bus route stops being useful
• Weekend out of the city — Metro-North from the same station, no transfer

Why the block itself matters more than the map suggests

East 40th between Lexington and Third is residential on both sides. That is unusual two blocks from 42nd Street, and it is the difference between walking home past apartment buildings and walking home past a bus terminal.

For a graduate student the practical version of that is noise. The street is quiet at eleven at night, which is when a good deal of graduate work actually happens.

What it costs to live within walking distance

Weekly rates, seven-night minimum, everything included — utilities, air conditioning, Wi-Fi and weekly housekeeping. No car, and no monthly transit pass strictly required either, though most residents keep one.

• Deluxe Room — $525 a week, shared bathroom
• Studio Basic — $650 a week, en-suite
• King Studio — $745 a week, en-suite, the largest room

The trade, stated plainly

There is no full kitchen in a room — no stove, no oven. Rooms have a mini-fridge, a microwave and a kettle, and cooking happens in the communal kitchen downstairs.

Worth weighing against the walk. Living eleven minutes from your department is worth a great deal; cooking in a shared kitchen is worth less to some people than to others, and it is better to know which one you are before September.