text: I am not clear.  Are you planning to study at the CUNY Graduate Center or are you taking courses at one of CUNY's braches--e.g. Queens College, Brooklyn College, or City College?  Assuming that you will be at the Graduate Center, the institution is located in what used to be the B. Altman's Department Store.  They have modified the building, but have kept many of the landmark architectural touches.  The Graduate Center library is of moderate size, but NYPL's main research branch is about 7 blocks away.  The faculty for the Graduate Center has a good reputation.  Many come from other CUNY campuses.  The other thing is that, as the name implies, the Graduate Center has graduate students only, so I guess that this would affect the atmosphere of the place, though I do not have extensive experience there.  I have visited it a few times.\n\nIf you are going to one of the branch campuses, they vary.  Queens and Brooklyn, for instance have sizable campuses (at least sizable for NYC).  Hunter and Baruch are in Manhattan and are just buildings--no green.  Most of the branches have larger libraries than the Graduate Center, and I believe, as a CUNY student, you would have access to any of these libraries.\n\nI hope this helps.