COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: COMMUNITY

Columbia’s main campus is located in Morningside Heights, a vibrant neighborhood in West Harlem. Served by the #1 train, which runs from Battery Park on the southern tip of Manhattan to Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, Columbia’s main stop is at 116th Street and Broadway. The community surrounding the area is filled with shops and restaurants, from chain cafés to distinctly local eateries. Perhaps the most recognizable to visitors from around the world is Tom’s Restaurant, the façade of which was used in episodes of Seinfeld as Monk’s Café. Visitors stand on the corner, eager to have their picture taken in front of this quintessential New York City icon. Food carts and trucks, and a farmers market decorate the sidewalks and streets throughout the week as students and faculty opt for less formal fare.

The Hungarian Pastry Shop on Amsterdam Avenue supplies tired students with strong coffee and sweet pastries late into the night. Patrons cram for exams and write their dissertations in a dimly lit dining room or at the tables outside where they can enjoy a view of the larger-than-life Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine. By many accounts the biggest cathedral in the world, St. John’s looms over Amsterdam, taking up an entire city block. It was built unhurriedly between 1899 and 1941, when the full length of the cathedral was finally consecrated, just days before the attacks on Pearl Harbor. St. John’s is adorned with more than just beautiful stained glass and epic stone towers; some visitors are lucky to spot the church’s two male peacocks freely wandering the grounds. A few blocks away on 121st Street is another theological favorite: Riverside Church, the tallest cathedral in the United States, modeled upon a 13th century gothic cathedral in Chartres, France.

Across the street from Riverside Church sits Grant’s Tomb, where General Ulysses S. Grant is entombed with his wife and his favorite horse. The largest mausoleum in North America, Grant’s Tomb was constructed after the largest fundraising effort in history at the time (in the 1880s), with over 900,000 people donating more than $600,000. Not far from Grant’s Tomb is the International House, or “I-House,” a privately-owned entity constructed in 1924 with the aim of fostering relationships between its global residents. Around 700 residents from more than 100 countries live in I-House, all of whom are either graduate students, full-time researchers, or recent graduate students gaining practical experience.

Columbia sits between Morningside Park to the east and Riverside Park to the west. Morningside Park blankets the hill that separates the University from the rest of Harlem, while Riverside Park stretches for miles along the Hudson River and features a bike and walking path along the water that goes to the southern tip of Manhattan.

Like much of New York City, Morningside Heights is heavy with bicyclists, especially in the sunny months. Students commute to school from other parts of the island, residents casually coast through Central Park or along the waterfront, and delivery boys ride against the stream of traffic with plastic bags of Kung Pao chicken and hot pizzas hung on their handlebars, eager for their next tip.