By 1957, Columbia already had constructed two baseball fields, touch football fields, and a soccer field in Morningside Park that were accessible to their students as well as the community members. Since these two vastly different groups were able to share these recreational fields, Columbia (in 1958) decided to build a gymnasium in the park for their growing student population that could be shared, much like the fields, with the public. The President of Columbia, Grayson Kirk, met with Robert Moses, the Parks Department Commissioner, as well as the Mayor of the city, members of the State Senate, an independent appraiser, and a New York City Department of Real Estate appraiser. In highly secretive meetings that were unknown to the public, they all signed an agreement and announced the plan in 1961 without consulting community leaders.

To Columbia officials, the gymnasium was much more than just a gym. It was the perfect way to address the urban decay occurring all around their prestigious university. The school believed it could help get rid of the urban blight while not intruding on neighborhood property (which usually meant people would be evicted). This way, Columbia could address the problem of Single Room Occupancy buildings (SROs) without having to deal with the aftermath of people and their families losing their homes. James Young, Director of Community Activities said, ‘Through this new gym many boys will be encouraged to develop healthy bodies, learn the meaning of fair play and develop tolerance of racial difference.’’

Kristina Navrazhina

Health Disparities in Morningside Heights/Central Harlem

Examining the role of Social, Economic, and Educational Inequalities in Community Health

Morningside Heights and Central Harlem appear as a vibrant community. With rich history and historical monuments, many visitors are attracted to this African American cultural center and home to the Harlem Rennasaince. However, residents of this community are strugging against a health crisis that could easily have been prevented: Human Immunodeficinecy Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Morningisde Heights/Central Harlem has the highest rates of transmissions and mortality from HIV/AIDS related complications in all of New York City. Beverly Watkins, professor of public health at Columbia University, claims that the truth is disoriented and one must look at the populations of the neighborhoods rather than the numbers. She says, “It’s important to understand that the aggregation of data from Morningside Heights and Central Harlem, two qualitatively different areas, distorts the true dynamic”. (Swindler, 2003)  Morningside Heights and Central Harlem are home to a large population of African-Americans. Indeed, health of a neighborhood, in it’s self, is an interesting concept. Numbers alone will not provide a clear understanding. Rather, demographics, income levels, education and population trends must be examined as they all play a heavy role in epidimiology of diseases in a particular area. Due to the small population of Morningside Heights, health statistics of the neighborhood are often combined with that of Central Harlem (Zip Code Definitions, health.state.nyc.gov)*. Although this taints the actual healthonography of Mornigside Heights, the compilation of data is made possible for researchers.The findings in this report examine health disparities in Morningside Heights and Central Harlem due to social, economic and educational inequalities. The neighborhoods’ status as the ecenter of HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases is attributed directly to the described inequalities.

HIV/AIDS 2004 Statistics