koronet

For many Columbia students, the last time they ate indoors at a restaurant was in early March. Delivery apps like Seamless and UberEats have become their best friends, along with cherished recipes for banana bread and chocolate chip cookies.

First-years may be required to have sizeable meal plans, but that doesn’t mean every day has to include eating at John Jay. The Columbia bubble encompasses a variety of eateries, both old and new, and the number of choices in the ever-changing food landscape can be overwhelming. However, among the multitude of muffins, bevy of beverages, and deluge of delis, a few Morningside Heights staples and newcomers stand out.

Harper's Magazine publisher Rick MacArthur, CC '78, opened his Columbia College Class Day address with a joke.

"I realize that many among you are disappointed that I am not the president of the United States," he said. "I want you to know, I share your disappointment."

CC's Tuesday morning class day ceremony was a much quieter affair than Barnard's Monday commencement ceremony, where President Barack Obama, CC '83, was the keynote speaker.

But that didn't stop the college's more than 1,000 graduates from celebrating their graduation and looking back on their time at Columbia. Senior class president Sarah Chai said that the experiences "that are most quintessentially Columbia" are those "not advertised by admissions officers," describing her first time eating a slice of Koronet pizza.

"Columbia has undoubtedly become a place of many firsts for us," she said.

MacArthur's speech in many ways reflected the Core Curriculum, as he spent much of it "analyzing texts," as he put it. He described his difficulties reading the "Marx-Engels Reader," a Contemporary Civilization text, quoting Karl Marx extensively.

"I was trying, really trying to understand, but the German Ideology Part 1 was more than I had bargained for," he said.

After quoting a particularly dense passage, he said, "I went back to the text, as I know all of you do, and reread the whole damn thing."

MacArthur, a former Spectator news editor and a member of Spectator's board of trustees, also discussed Obama, saying that the president misread former Columbia English professor Edward Said. According to a recent biography of Obama, the president once called Said a "flake" more interested in literary theory than actual text, an assessment with which MacArthur disagreed.

"As a Protestant-baptized Palestinian-American who attended British colonial and American schools, Said was himself decontextualized as an Arab, permanently out of place," MacArthur said. "Said's sense of deracination, of never quite knowing where he came from, is something Barack Obama should know all about."

Continuing his analysis, though, MacArthur said that he ultimately does not believe Obama considered Said a flake, because "the grown-up Obama is a serious, intelligent person who attended Columbia College, where he learned how to read past the obvious and the superficial."

"My hope is that none of you seniors would shrink from such a reading assignment or such a political risk because of your exceptional Columbia College education," he continued. "The role of the intellectual, a Columbia intellectual, is to be prepared to tackle any text."

"My advice to all of you today is to absorb, to question, to challenge, to refute any author on any subject—or for that matter, any politician or commencement speaker," he added.

Graduate Kalasi Huggins said that while MacArthur's address wasn't his "ideal graduation speech," it was "well-executed."

"I thought it was relevant, and it definitely addressed the Obama issue, and he did it in a comical way which offset the animosity and the tension," Huggins said.

MacArthur's discussion of Core texts served to highlight a point made by Columbia College Alumni Association president Kyra Tirana Barry, CC '87.

"The Columbia experience is very powerful," Barry said. "It spans the years and generations."

There were several speakers besides MacArthur, including Barry, Chai, University President Lee Bollinger, Columbia College Interim Dean James Valentini, and salutatorian Zachary Levine. Valentini referenced a tagline once used by Jeep: "The things we make, make us."

"At Columbia, we are not manufacturers," he said. "But we do forge citizens, scholars, scientists, artists, writers, and leaders."

Levine thanked his classmates for making him "feel comfortable" in his own identity after he came out, discussing the ways that Columbia orients and disorients students.

"What we believe and know is dependent on how we were raised, relationships we've formed, accomplishments and accidents and blessings that we've had along the way," he said. "The presence of a queer community made the disorientation, the dizziness, feel good and beautiful, and uncomfortable in the best sense."

"This is a familiar story to each of us," he added.

Chai encouraged her classmates to remember their peers as they "continue to take chances and take charge."

"It's the people that you met here at Columbia who have helped shape you into an even more incredible person than you were when you first came to Morningside Heights," she said.

lillian.chen@columbiaspectator.com

Yes, we all love Koronet. But for anyone in a Morningside-induced pizza rut, there's an alternative. Take the 1 train uptown into Harlem and check out Covo Lounge, an oftentimes-overlooked Italian restaurant at 135th Street and 12th Avenue. more Through the CUArts Restaurant Partners program, Covo Lounge's counterpart, Covo Trattoria and Pizzeria, offers 10 percent off the check to Columbia students. But Covo Lounge broadcasts a better weekend deal to the general public, extending their happy hour from 5 p.m. to 12 a.m. Sunday through Thursday. Skip the booze, though, and fill up on half-price pizza, since at 50 percent off, a Covo pie seems like an unbelievable dinner bargain. For a mere $7, students might feast on an Amalfi pizza, mozzarella, and shrimps cozy together on a delectable crust. Or for an earth-shakingly cheap $5, try a Paesana, Pecorino Romano cheese, black olives, and Sicilian oregano striking a symphony of salty flavors. Honestly, at such incredibly low prices, the food must merely beat out halal carts to merit a trip. Just hope that Covo hasn't continued the Sunday night comedy hour hat they began in late February, a surely painful and pizza-buzz-killing experience.

This Tenka thing is really taking off. And today there are two new deals that will be much appreciated. On campus: free 16 oz. coffee at Butler's Blue Java. In the neighborhood: free draft beer at The Heights. more According to Nhon Ma, the Co-Founder & CEO of Tenka, last week all 100 slices of Koronet's pizza were gone in two days. But just as importantly, 500 people intended to use the Koronet's deal and had put it "in their pocket," so you better run over to Blue Java and The Heights quickly before this deal runs out.

Tired of Ferris but too lazy to leave Morningside Heights for food? We've got you covered. Here's our approval matrix for neighborhood eateries.

A recent health inspection turned up major violations at Koronet Pizza—but the management disputes the claim, maintaining that the home of Morningside Heights' biggest slice is clean and safe. Last Wednesday's inspection by the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene gave Koronet, on Broadway between 110th and 111th streets, 40 points—far more than the 28 required for a C grade. The inspection found "evi-dence of mice or live mice present in facility's food and/or non-food areas" as well as an "unsanitized food surface"—both "critical issues," according to the report. Inspectors also took issue with the lack of vermin-proofing and problems with the plumbing. But Nick Manikis, manager at Koronet for six years, said the inspection was all wrong. While the inspector thought he found "mouse crap," Manikis claims it was instead debris from crumbling plaster in the basement. "He didn't want to listen, he wrote it down as mouse crap," Manikis said. "Whatever he wrote down is not correct." On a tour of the premises Tuesday afternoon, Manikis pointed out the spots, which looked like dust. He also pointed out the empty mousetraps. "They didn't find any cockroaches, they didn't find any mouse," he added. "I was here when it happened. They were checking the whole basement from one corner to the other corner—they didn't find anything alive." In addition, Manikis said, "the preparation area was clean, they didn't find anything there," and the plumbing violation came from a hole between pipes—"Nothing was leaking." A previous inspection on Jan. 28 gave the restaurant only 14 points—a B grade, but only a few points from an A—and didn't mention mice. "The first inspection barely found anything; the second one did," Manikis said. "It has to do a lot with the inspector—from inspection to inspection, it's a big difference." Koronet will contest the violations at a hearing on March 2 at the city's Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings Health Tribunal. Until then, a "Grade Pending" sign will be posted in the window. "This is not the final decision," Manikis said. "We'll know in a month, and they'll be updating it ... I believe this will work." Manikis said that the beloved pizza joint has been well-maintained over the years. "As you see it now, it's been this way for 31 years," he said. "Two years ago, we repainted, but other than that, it's the same. We had an A [in the past], and nothing changed." A number of New York restaurateurs are unhappy with the letter grading system and believe it is punitive and arbitrary. Andrew Rigie, executive vice president of the New York City Chapter of the New York State Restaurant Association, said in a statement that the system is "failing New York City residents in many ways." A City Council hearing to review the policy is planned for late February. A council spokesperson said there was no specific date set. The Health Department press office declined to comment beyond the public inspection record. Many students said that the health grade itself wasn't a big deal for them—but the possibility of mice was. "Just seeing the letter up there, I don't think about what it means," Divya Singh, SEAS '14, said. "When I hear about what it means, that's different." "I hear people talk about ratings ... but I don't actively look at them," Nat Banyatpiyaphod, SEAS '14, said. "But when I hear stories like mouse poop, I might not go there." Others said that the rating could impact their decision. "If it's a place I regularly go to, and it's a B, I wouldn't mind, but if I saw a B on the outside of a restaurant I've never gone to, I wouldn't go in," Pea Jitngamplang, SEAS '14, said. Farther down Broadway, Flor de Mayo, a Chinese-Peruvian fusion restaurant at 101st Street that accepts Flex, reopened with a C grade last week after an inspection on February 6. Two inspections in late January found roaches and cold food stored at too-warm temperatures, and the restaurant was ordered closed. casey.tolan@columbiaspectator.com