Campus Access and Patrolling

At the Morningside campus, gate security officers are posted at West 116th Street and Broadway, West 116th Street and Amsterdam, and West 119th Street and Amsterdam. The Public Safety Department also maintains a uniformed patrol presence in the area adjoining the campus. The Public Safety Department provides 24-hour access control to the undergraduate residence halls through a combination of proprietary and contract security officers and specially trained student attendants. Access control is supplemented by an online computerized card access system linked to student identification cards. At selected academic buildings, a card access and alarm monitoring system, with video support recorded 24 hours a day and monitored regularly, has been installed at the security operations desk.

Motorized and foot patrols, coordinated with neighborhood security organizations as well as the security departments of Barnard College, Teachers College, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, and other affiliated institutions, patrol all campuses and their environs. All Columbia University buildings on the Medical Center campus are also patrolled by security officers. Valid Columbia University or Columbia University Medical Center identification badges are required for entry into the Physicians and Surgeons Building, Black Building, Georgian Residence, Hammer Health Sciences Center, Bard Hall, Bard-Haven Towers, 80 Haven Avenue, and 154 Haven Avenue.

The Office of Institutional Real Estate manages over 6,000 University-owned residential units, most of which are located in the area from West 109th to West 125th Street between Morningside and Riverside Parks in the area known as Morningside Heights. Some units are located on Haven Avenue between West 169th and West 173rd Streets and are used primarily to house students enrolled at the Medical Center campus. These buildings are managed and operated by University employees. Superintendents reside either in, or in close proximity to, the buildings. The area from West 168th Street to West 174th Street along Fort Washington and Haven Avenues is patrolled by Columbia Public Safety as well.