Date: February 19, 2008 3:55:48 PM ESTTo: inyc@timeoutny.comSubject: Columbia social life vs. NYU social life

Why do the social options around Columbia suck so much compared to those at NYU? Students here have just as much free time and disposable income, so why haven’t businesses responded? You’d think there would be a music scene and non-Starbucks coffeehouses, yet it’s quiet as a mouse after 10pm! Was there once a zoning law that forced Columbia students farther south to socialize, and then that became the norm?

Cat Hamilton, Morningside Heights

Amanda Binioris, a waitress at Morningside Heights’ iconic Hungarian Pastry Shop, isn’t happy with the state of the neighborhood either. “The culture has been completely erased,” she says. “When people think of Morningside, they think about the university.”

Historically, it makes sense. Andrew Delbanco, head of the American-studies department at Columbia, says the nabe was far from the city center when it was first settled and remains heavily residential. “The size and style of the apartments attract a relatively mature population, even as the area becomes fashionable. NYU, after all, is sprawled out over the Village and Lower East Side, which are much denser, and full of romantic history and vaguely countercultural vibes.”

Delbanco, though, is optimistic about Morningside’s future, citing a number of recently opened bistros and restaurants. Here are a few of our own faves…

P&W Deli
1030 Amsterdam Ave (212-222-2245)
Those who think they have the Morningside music scene all figured out might be surprised to learn that P&W semiregularly features live vocal performances, often with from-around-the-block singer-songwriters.

Max Caffé
1262 Amsterdam Ave (212-531-1210)
The next-door spin-off of upscale Max Soha boasts a cozy back room stuffed with antique couches. The waitresses rarely come around, which means you might wait a while for your panino; on the plus side, your writing collective can have its next meeting with relatively few interruptions.

Kim’s Mediapolis
2906 Broadway (212-864-5321)
This video-rental joint has been a neighborhood fixture for seven years. Like its East Village sister, the uptown Kim’s is known for its genre-straddling selection and the smirky film-school nerds who work there.

Suite
992 Amsterdam Ave (212-222-4600)
The key to a more variegated Morningside experience is equal parts open mind and open wallet. This popular and pricey gay bar offers karaoke four nights a week, along with drag nights, DJ sets and campy variety shows.

1020
1020 Amsterdam Ave (212-531-3468)
Lookin’ for kicks after 10pm? This bar does the college thing brilliantly: darts, drafts and drunken hookups.

Kim’s Mediapolis
2906 Broadway (212-864-5321)
This video-rental joint has been a neighborhood fixture for seven years. Like its East Village sister, the uptown Kim’s is known for its genre-straddling selection and the smirky film-school nerds who work there.

Oren’s Daily Roast
2882 Broadway (212-749-8779)
This hole-in-the-wall is popular among the sustainable-development crowd for its lowish prices and fair-trade coffee, plus its upbeat employees. Says barista Rikiana Perreira, “I’ve only been to Starbucks once. It seems a little…robotic.”

Sip Bar and Lounge998 Amsterdam Ave (212-316-2747)
Sip strives to be everything that 1020 is not. Its monthly reading series, Sip Lit, has featured such vaunted names as Deb Olin Unferth and Mark Strand. Resident DJ Danny Brookings is doing his part to change Columbia’s tuneless reputation: He hosts live acoustic sets on the third Sunday of every month, and records his weekly radio show at Sip’s indie-soul brunch every weekend.

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