Keep Treading Up

As a guy who’s perpetually late, I soon found that praying to the D train every morning wasn’t enough to speed up my commute to account for a delayed departure. I must also have good cardio and stamina. The first thing that prospective students notice about City College is the fact that it’s located on top of a mountain. Whether it be sliding up or down on snow days or drowning in your own sweat in the summer, this trek is something we all encounter almost every day. However, there is no need to cry about it; mountains can be pretty cool.

We’ll begin with a brief history. In 1907, the City College of New York officially moved from its building on Lexington Avenue and 23rd Street to its current campus located on Convent Avenue in the Hamilton Heights section of Harlem. This plot of land had been home to several other schools, mainly because school officials appreciated the seclusion and serenity that it provided. The area was not populated at the time, but more importantly, it was located on top of a rather large hill. I was not able to find any sources that claimed this to be the reason for our move but it’s pretty safe to assume so.

And that’s how the final leg of your commute came to be!

Since a good majority of City College students arrive to school by subway, that makes three possible routes to tread up to campus: walking up the hill on the west side from the 137th street station, walking up the hill on the east side from the 145th street station or climbing the stairs of Saint Nicholas Park from the 135th street station. Using some of the cool features of Google Earth, I was able to analyze these three routes to get a better idea of what we students must go through to get to class.

For each route, I provided the approximate distance, average and maximum percent grade (slope) and elevation gained. Then, using this information, along with approximate walking times calculated by Google Maps, and estimating that the average City College student is 81.5 kilograms and walks at a pace of 62 meters per minute, I was able to calculate the approximate calories burned.

I used the following formulas to calculate the approximate calories burned:

VO2 = 0.1•S + 1.8•S•G + 3.5
MET = VO2/3.5
Cal = MET•W•t / 60

where S is speed in meters/minute, G is the fractional grade, W is mass in kilograms and t is the time in minutes. In all cases, we’ll assume W = 81.5 kg and S = 62 m/min. VO₂ refers to oxygen consumption and MET refers to the standard metabolic equivalent. The final formula converts your MET to calories burned per hour. We multiply this by t/60 to determine the total amount of calories burned during the average walk to school.

135th Street Station [B, C trains]

This is my preferred route to school. It’s not because I enjoy an intense cardio trip in the mornings, but it can be a few minutes shorter than going all the way to 145th street; and I understand the importance of those extra few seconds as I do my daily rush to class. Don’t look for shortcuts because this is the only way up to campus. Because this is a park with not too many paths, one wrong move could make your walk up a much longer path and consume excess energy. However, all you have to do after the trek up the park is walk along Saint Nicholas Terrace and make your way on campus using one of the back alleyways. Very simple.

145th Street Station [A, B, C, D trains]

Between this and the 135th route, this route is way more popular. It can be a bit more pleasant too, since you’ll pass through major roads instead of back alleyways and get to experience the community and lifestyle of Harlem as you rush to school with everyone else. I prefer to use this route if I am not pressed for time (on very rare occasions) or if I give up all hope of making my class on time (also on very rare occasions, especially if you are my professor).

137th Street Station [1 train]

Although this route burns the least calories, you shouldn’t be nonchalant about it. It’s 5 minutes of straight uphill, which can end up being pretty gnarly on super hot days or when there is a thin coating of ice on the sidewalk. If you take the 1, this is the only way to go, so suck it up!

You should take note that this data is subject to error as the information obtained by Google may not be completely accurate. Additionally, the approximate calories burned is based on the average City College student, so will most likely be different for you. Regardless, we can see that if you decide to take the subway to school, there is no easy way to get up to campus (unless you take our shuttle bus). As a prospective student, this may seem daunting, but you’ll get used to it.

On my way to freshman orientation, heading to campus for the first time, I overheard someone saying, “I don’t think I can ever get used to these stairs,” which I very much agreed to in my head. But now as a happy sophomore in college, I can manage the trip while keeping the amount of tears shed to a minimum. Then I can reward myself later by eating something that’s about 60 calories, like half a macaron.