Columbus circle has been a historically notorious black area. Ask any New Yorker and they will tell you that. Nowadays Columbia's campus is generally safer than its surrounding area, thanks to the efforts of the school's authority. But just further up on the 125 street is the notorious harlem district and down on the 95 street it's not very safe as well. I lived at Columbus Circle for a whole summer. You can still see suspecious ganster activities in that area from time to time.