The killing of Mr. Vasquez on the St John steps, rather than down in Harlem where it would not be unusual
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The neighborhood is challenging due to mixed economic, racial and religious constituencies, cheek by jowl.
Local activist Bruce Bailey who lived down the street from St John was kidnapped and murdered by drug dealers enraged by his campaign against drugs.
Barnard student Tessa Majors was stabbed to death by a teen in the park behind St. John.
Columbia student protests in 1968 were instigated by controversial construction in that same park.
Columbia professors and students and staff have been killed, raped, robbed, and beaten.
In contrast, St John has been in the forefront of seeking conciliation among contending groups, offering jobs, counseling, education and social services.
All the multiple institutions on Morningside Heights offer aid to the area to a greater or lesser degree.
But its never enough to meet what is needed, and strife remains a constant, and may be seen as a result of widely different privileges and sufferings, perhaps best symbolized by the majestic cathedral still unfinished after a century of construction.
Institutional expansion on the Heights and in the 125th Street valley continues to rile locals who have to scrape for survival.
The killing of Mr. Vasquez on the St John steps, rather than down in Harlem where it would not be unusual, poses a long seething contradiction in one of the wealthiest and poorest cities in the US.
In that way Mr. Vasquez gave his life to show injustice and cruelty in a pampered and sanctified setting.