Rachael Gashkoff

The glimmer of streetlights shines from black puddles on the pavement as we walk up the street, illuminating our path to Manhattanville. There’s plenty of traffic on the road, but not much on the sidewalk—just me and three friends that I brought along for the night.

More than 30 people huddled for warmth at the corner of 125th Street and Broadway Sunday morning, with McDonald’s coffees and umbrellas at hand. They anxiously awaited a walking tour of Manhattanville, led by the neighborhood historian Eric K. Washington.

When presented with the image of people taking notes on the interactions of others through one-way glass, one normally assumes a police interrogation. At Barnard College, however, the subjects are toddlers, and the observers are students.