168th Street (A, C, 1)

Welcome to the sprawling complex of Columbia University Irving Medical Center, which plops a bunch of big science buildings, along with professors, grad students, and their school-age kids right into an otherwise Dominican/Latinx/multicultural landscape.

Columbia’s medical center buildings right above the station.

I visited this stop with local expert Vik, also my cousin, who was a grad student living and working off this stop for years before he decided to make money.

Vik recommends Tasty Deli, the storefront of which is literally a subway entrance. The prices are cheap, the sandwiches are huge. A grad student’s dream. Vik was also a frequent patron of Mike’s Bagels.

Spot the subway entrance.

Currently, there’s a bit of a drinking hole around this station when it comes to, well, drinking holes, after Coogan’s closure. It was a loss so great that the New Yorker covered it. If you’re out here and find a good place for a drink in the area, drop it in the comments!

Big sandwich energy.