Lots of green space and one of the nation's top universities.
Morningside Heights has a below average violent crime rate and an average property crime rate for New York City.
Morningside Heights is an uptown Manhattan neighborhood whose real estate is largely taken up by higher education institutions: Columbia University, Barnard College, and the Manhattan School of Music. As you'd expect of a neighborhood surrounding several schools, this is a popular place to live for its student population. However, you'll also find long-established families living here thanks to housing that is more affordable than other parts of the city.
There are plenty of coffee shops and cheap eats catering to the student population. You'll also find a number of bars, but those are restricted to Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue so the side streets where most people live remain quiet.
On the west side of the neighborhood is the terrific Riverside Park, which runs the length of Manhattan island and provides 330 acres (135 hectares) of biking, walking, and running, a marina, dog runs, sports fields, playgrounds, a skate park, and the Boat Basin Café – a great place to have a beer at sunset. On the east side is the 30 acre Morningside Park, which sits along a cliff and features a baseball field, basketball courts, and a pond.
Morningside Heights is bordered on the north by Manhattanville and Harlem, on the east by Harlem, on the south by Upper West Side, and on the west by the Hudson River.
Commute:
Wall Street: 10.5 miles / 30-70 minutes by car / 40-50 minutes by transit
Rockefeller Center: 5.8 miles / 20-40 minutes by car / 30 minutes by transit
Jersey City: 22.3 miles / 35-60 minutes by car / 60 minutes by transit
Morningside Heights LOCAL schools
Morningside Heights Local Flavor 
Loved by many customers, The Heights Bar & Grill is located above a deli and has floor-to-ceiling windows that offer a tree-top view of Broadway.
Seinfeld fans will recognize this unassuming diner as the hangout for Jerry and the crew. Tom's Restaurant has been a staple in Morningside Heights New York for over 70 years. it's an authentic New York diner and it's been known as Tom's Diner from Suzanne Vega song and as Monk's Diner from Seinfeld
Casual place that serves up their famous brunch on the weekends.
Columbia students know to bring cash only for the giant pizzas at this institution.
This independent bookstore, founded in 1997, has become a community hangout and meeting place. And dogs know they keep treats on hand.
Photo Credits: Thanks to @RyanVaarsi, @Ilahbocaj, @Olaf, @Ryan, @ReadingTom, @InSapphoWeTrust, @MonCEil, @TeriTynes, @ColumbiaAdmissions, @jerseymac76, @theteajenny, @morningsidemakersmarkets, @roseveartea, @tifflangston, @anthonylouh, @joannejk1, @autenticonuevayork, @meganmartinphoto, and @bawettweiter for your great photos of this neighborhood!
