I went to college in New York City in the early 1970s. The crime rate was very high during that period and, living as a poor student in underserved neighborhoods, I was personally a victim of violent crime on multiple occasions. The worst of these events was physically threatening and had life-long consequences. Apart from Central Park, well-tended greenspace, pocket parks or tree-lined streets were a rare commodity. As students we felt this deficit at our core. Columbia University lies alongside Morningside Park and the possibility that a new gymnasium was going to be built there, and diminish one of Harlem’s amenities, sparked a campus protest that changed the culture of university campuses for decades.