During the middle 70s, the Morningside Heights neighborhood, especially Broadway, was just beginning to change. A College student with meager resources still had a number of choices of fine, inexpensive places to eat and drink. The College Inn served grilled sandwiches late into the night, the L & M on Amsterdam, (in a building still served by direct current!) had the deserved reputation for the best hamburgers, and CDR, despite being below street level on 119th Street, had a daily dinner special and beer. The Chock Full O' Nuts across from College Walk on Broadway was always in great demand, decades before the current coffee craze. All of these restaurants were outstanding values and welcomed students and neighborhood residents alike.

The Gold Rail was and will always be the best bar ever to grace the Columbia landscape. I recall spending every night there during my freshman orientation. Later, we would spend time at Jim's Tavern, which was more of a neighborhood bar, and the Marlin, where a six of Schmidt's in the bottle was always available cold in the cooler for two dollars after a night's carousing. As these establishments closed, we would walk a little further down Broadway to Cannon's which retained the neighborhood/student bar feel.

These eateries enabled a College student to get off the meal plan and eat in full-service restaurants whenever you wanted to, not just during designated times. And the all the bars mentioned were within a student's budget. I abandoned the meal plan, saved money, and felt more like an adult in New York.

I have visited in recent years and the neighborhood looks better but has clearly lost a lot of wonderful places where you could hang out with your friends.

We didn't realize it, but we were fortunate to be attending school in the Morningside Heights of the mid-70s.