Morningside Heights campus gates

The 116th Street Gates on Broadway

The Morningside Heights campus gates protect the Morningside Heights campus from the outside world. The gates are a strong symbolic of the University, on par with Low Library, The Sundial, and Alma Mater. Ironically, the most iconic 'gates' at Columbia, the 116th Street Gates on Broadway, are not even the campuses oldest gates, and are in fact a relatively recent addition, a gift of George Delacorte along with its mirror twin on Amsterdam Avenue. The memorial pylons that are integrated into the gates were once freestanding on the sidewalk of 116th street before the construction of College Walk.

Existing Gates

Gates are found at the following locations and are open 24-hours, unless otherwise noted:

Gate name	Location	Hours
Lerner gate	Broadway, between Lerner Hall and Furnald
John Jay gate	114th St, between John Jay Hall and Butler Library
Carman gate	114th St, between Carman Hall and Butler Library
Main gate, east	Amsterdam Avenue at 116th St	Always open
Main gate, west	Broadway at 116th St	Always open
Wein gate	116th St, between Jerome Greene Hall and Wein Hall
Chapel gate	Amsterdam Avenue at what would be 117th St	Limited hours
Earl Hall gate	Broadway at what would be 117th St	Limited hours
Class of 1882 Gate	120th St	Limited hours
Taint Gate	Amsterdam Avenue between Hartley and Wallach	Rarely

The university sometimes closes select gates during inclement weather, though the 116th Street gates are virtually always open (except during Commencement and citywide emergencies such as September 11th).

Demolished Gates

Barnard College graduates leaving through the Mapes Gate

The Class of 1882 Gate on 120th Street. The lamp is no longer part of the gate today

The original gates that graced Columbia's campus stood around the Grove on the northern part of campus. The only one remaining is the Class of 1882 gate on 120th Street, hidden behind CEPSR, designed by Charles McKim. The other 2 gates, among the most ornate gates on Columbia's Morningside Heights campus are a distant memory. The Mapes Memorial Gate, erected by the Classes of 1890-1892 in memory of Henry Mapes stood at roughly 119th Street and Broadway, where the shuttered service entrance between Levien Gymnasium and Chandler Hall is currently located. It was probably demolished in the course of the construction of Levien and Dodge Fitness Center in the Grove.

At the opposite end of the service driveway, which used to be a scenic path through the now-vanished Grove, stood the Class of 1888 Gate, an elaborate gate with seperate side gates dedicated to the Arts and Sciences. It too has been replaced by a less than inspiring service entrance between Schermerhorn Extension and Mudd Hall.