West Harlem is simultaneously a recognized site of rich history and culture as well as a neighborhood fighting to maintain its character. Residents have long clashed with developers and Columbia University to protect their neighborhood from gentrification and the loss of its historic integrity.

Rabbi Stephen Lerner, CC ’60, heralded as “the leading maker of new Jews in the New York area if not the country,” died on Jan. 27 of COVID-19. He was 80 years old.

Police fatally shot a man on the steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine on Sunday afternoon after he opened fire near a crowd of hundreds gathered for a Christmas choral concert. It is not clear whether the man was shooting at people in the crowd, but no other injuries or fatalities have been reported.

New York City’s first and only Black mayor and School of International and Public Affairs professor David Norman Dinkins passed away from natural causes in his home on Monday evening. He was 93 years old.

Outside Columbia’s gates, hundreds of students and community residents cheered, honked, sang, and danced to celebrate the victory of the projected president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden. For many, it was the first presidential election they voted in.

As the presidential election enters its third day and the country sits at the edge of its seat awaiting the announcement of the new president-elect, Columbia students and Morningside Heights community members reflect on what’s at stake.

Amid concerns over the coronavirus, New York City government officials canceled the Summer Youth Employment Program earlier last month, which engages thousands of youths in paid pre-professional work. But city advocates, including Manhattan Community Board 9—a local advisory board representing Morningside Heights and surrounding areas—expressed concerns and suggested that the program continue remotely to provide economic benefits for underprivileged youth.

Officials from the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine had announced on Monday that the cathedral would serve as a field hospital to treat COVID-19 patients at the end of the week. But before its doors even opened for COVID-19 patients, plans were abruptly canceled, as public health officials said that the slowing rate of virus-related hospitalizations in the city made them reassess the need for the project.