The thing that really sells our school to potential students (or at least it sold it to me) is the location. Our location offers many of the same elements of a traditional college campus all while still being in close proximity to Manhattan. The closeness really portrays a great view of the city from campus. But these great views don’t come at no expense. In fact, the only reason our view is so spectacular is because we’re in Riverdale, home to one of of the highest elevations in all of New York City. Without getting into too much detail, I’ll state the obvious. We’re located on top of a gigantic hill, leaving us with a campus covered in buildings with entrances on the 8th floors, bridges, and most importantly a ton of stairs.There are so many stairs that on my first visit here, the tour guide actually tried to ease my concerns by telling me that the stairs were a great way to get a small daily workout in. So, I suppose that’s a good thing, but as much as I need that extra leg workout, in between my classes is not the time I would prefer to get one in. For this reason, I’ve gathered a list of all the different ways I’ve figured out how to avoid all those stairs.
1. The Path Behind Draddy
If you’ve lived in Horan, Lee, or frequent Draddy you should know this path. It takes you around the back of Jasper where you could either go through the gate into Jasper’s backyard to access North campus (De La Salle, Miguel, etc.) or keep follwing the side walk down headed for the commons to South campus (Leo, RLC).
2. The Path Going up to Horan and Lee
This isnt an “official” path created by the school–you may have never noticed it. It’s located on the side of the hill directly under Lee. Although climbing up a dirt path might not seem like a better alternative to walking up the stairs, it really is. If you’re coming from Broadway or the parking garage, this path can save you some time getting into campus and help you avoid those steep stairs outside of Horan or Hayden.
3. The Path In The Parking Garage
This is for the commuters or anyone who frequents the area around the parking garage. You could take the elevator from the garage up to the path, walk out the doors of Hayden and walk parallel to the stairs that lead to campus. Parallel to the stairs, there is a door leading into the library. When you go through the door, take the elevator up to the fifth floor (I think whichever has a star) which will let you out right across from the library.
4. General Elevator Usage
Some other ways to avoid the stairs would be to take the elevators everywhere you go. Every building has one including De La Salle, Miguel, and Thomas. You might just not want to use them because some are so slow you’ll probably be late for class anyway.