Ever wonder what it is they do up there? Yes, the northern reaches of Manhattan might seem inhospitable to college life, but Columbia kids evidently have found ways to cope, such as taking the 1 train downtown.

Kidding, kidding. Although the weekend sub-14th street diaspora is a very real phenomenon, Columbia kids have been amusing themselves in their own backyard since 1754. We talked to some Columbians to find out how:

Parties

You’ve heard it before: Frat parties. According to junior Kaitlin Phillips, “Greek life seems to be the only active thing outside of club activities and, well obviously, private parties.” They have them, they go to them, but it gets old. “It would seem that Columbia is the place where fun comes to die,” Phillips added.

However, Columbia’s co-ed literary frat, ADP, sounds a bit different, and potentially worthwhile. At least they’re creative. Their recent halloween coffee shop had sets from electro bands and Brooklyn-based DJs, and the Facebook event listed costume suggestions like “urban-vampiric, suburban-vampiric, bohemian-artistic-werewolfesque.” And there’s a pirate flag over the entrance to their “Haus.” That sounds oddly familiar to a certain school downtown I know.

“Otherwise, Columbians go to party Mecca, a massive dorm called East Campus, to find parties. Sometimes they are actually fun! They are always very sweaty,” said Eliza Shapiro, the editor of Bwog, Columbia’s campus blog. Dorms! Sweat! And to think we thought Morningside Heights had nothing to offer.

Bars

1020 Bar (Amsterdam Ave. & 111th St.), right next to St. John’s Cathedral, is the go-to dive bar on campus, and is “the most tolerable bar around,” said junior Rachel Shannon-Solomon. No, they don’t have a plethora to choose from, but simple is good, right? “It’s really cheap and pretty laid back, although recently has become very crowded on weekends. It’s best on a Wednesday night,” according to Rian Rooney, also a junior. Plus this place has a dart league that meets very seriously on Mondays.

The mediocre Cuban food chain Havana Central (Broadway & 112th St.) opened in the area in 2006, replacing the classic beat poet bar the West End, famous for serving Allen Ginsburg and lots of Columbia undergrads. Havana Central, we’re told, has “Senior night” on Wednesdays and is where you should go to break up the keg monotony if you’re in a frat.

We’re told one should go to El Porton (Broadway & La Salle St. — technically Harlem) for margaritas, and this “great little Greek place” Symposium (W 113th St. & Amsterdam Ave.) for sangria. The Heights (Broadway & 111th St.) serves Mexican food too, but also has a swanky rooftop bar, where you can enjoy panoramic views of… Morningside Park?

But Abbey Pub (W 105th St. & Broadway), a heavily trafficked ‘campus’ bar, ”tends to be populated with Fordham and Manhattanville kids who for no apparent reason come here to drink,” Phillips said. “All you need is a fake to get in, and they definitely don’t look that close.”

Bwog tells us that Campo (2888 Broadway & 111th St.) is that freshman bar. You know, that one — you’ll go twice a weekend freshman year and then avoid it like the plague and/or return for a nostalgia trip thereafter. More simply put, Campo is their Asian Pub. But at least theirs “doubles as a pretty good Italian restaurant during the day,” instead of some bizarre cuisine amalgamation that may or may not have anything to do with its namesake.

“There is always someone’s party to go to,” said sophomore Isabella Serrani. “But if all else fails, we head midtown, downtown or to Brooklyn.” Thought so.

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