Let’s explore the city… through a first-year’s Instagram stories.

As a native New Yorker, sometimes I have to laugh when tourists hype up the dingiest parts of the city on social media. Midtown will never be the best neighborhood in NYC. However, as a first-year, I have unfortunately fallen victim to posting cliche Columbia clips online for others to admire. Here’s a list of photo-ops I see most often, complete with my own examples. Guilty as charged!

Around Columbia:

  • A wide shot of Butler (bonus points if it’s at sunset)
Butler at sunset
  • The view from your dorm window that includes some identifying feature of campus
  • Your multicultural friend group laughing on the lawns
  • Posing with the 116th St – Columbia University mosaic sign
The Columbia subway sign
  • A zoomed-in photo of the subway stair signs pointing to Barnard/Columbia
  • Looking downtown on Amsterdam from Law Bridge
Amsterdam Avenue
  • Sitting on the Low ledges

Around NYC:

  • The Times Square billboards (AKA the most overcrowded place on Earth)
  • Eating a slice of $1 pizza
  • The new wing at AMNH
The Gilder Center at AMNH
  • A very pixelated view of the Statue of Liberty from the ferry
The Statue of Liberty
  • Little Island
  • A picture of a ticket and Playbill in front of the stage at a Broadway show (I’m jealous)
So called “free thinkers” when metro or desert storm are in rotation : r/PhantomForces
So-called free thinkers when they see a pretty sunset (via Imgflip)

Columbia/NYC photos via Ann Dai