Cathedral of St. John the Divine
The Cathedral of St. John the Divine (sometimes referred to as St. John's and also nicknamed St. John the Unfinished) is the cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. It is at 1047 Amsterdam Avenue in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, between West 110th Street (also known as Cathedral Parkway) and West 113th Street.
Cathedral of St. John the Divine
1911
Active
Christopher Grant LaFarge and George Lewis Heins; Ralph Adams Cram
December 27, 1892
1911 (crossing, apse)
1941 (nave)
Incomplete (southern transept and towers)
Stone, granite, limestone
February 21, 2017
2585[1]
The cathedral is an unfinished building, with only two-thirds of the proposed building completed, due to several major stylistic changes, work interruptions, and unstable ground on the site. The original design, in the Byzantine Revival and Romanesque Revival styles, began construction in 1892. After the opening of the crossing in 1909, the overall plan was changed to a Gothic Revival design. The completion of the nave was delayed until 1941 due to various funding shortfalls, and little progress has occurred since then, except for an addition to the tower at the nave's southwest corner. After a large fire damaged part of the cathedral in 2001, it was renovated and rededicated in 2008. The towers above the western elevation of the facade, as well as the southern transept and a proposed steeple above the crossing, have not been completed.
Despite being incomplete, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine is the world's sixth-largest church by area and either the largest or second-largest Anglican cathedral.[a] The floor area of St. John's is 121,000 sq ft (11,200 m2), spanning a length of 601 feet (183 m), while the roof height of the nave is 177 feet (54 m). Since the cathedral's interior is so large, it has been used for hundreds of events and art exhibitions. In addition, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine has been involved in various advocacy initiatives throughout its history.
The cathedral close includes numerous buildings: the Leake & Watts Orphan Asylum Building, the cathedral proper, the St. Faith's House, the Choir School, the Deanery, and the Bishop's House. The buildings are designed in several different styles and were built over prolonged periods of construction, with the Leake & Watts Orphan Asylum predating the cathedral itself. The cathedral close was collectively designated an official city landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 2017.
Advocacy[edit]
Throughout the years, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine has been involved in various initiatives and projects. These programs included youth initiatives, a soup kitchen, a homeless shelter, and AIDS outreach. During the Vietnam War, the cathedral was also part of the opposition to United States involvement in the war.[235][366] The Temple of Understanding, an interfaith organization, was housed at the cathedral for several decades in the late 20th century, moving to Midtown Manhattan in the 1990s.[367][368]
Several programs have been directed toward helping members of the surrounding community. In 1971, the cathedral founded ACT (Athletics, Creativity, and Trips), a program that provided after-school activities and summer camp to children in the neighborhood.[78][367] The program still runs as of 2018[369] under the name "Advancing the Community of Tomorrow".[370] In 1974, in response to a need for housing in New York City, St. John's created a program that became the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB);[179][371] by 1987, the program had helped residential tenants in over 500 buildings to renovate and take ownership of their houses.[372] Additionally, a homeless shelter, crisis center, clothes closet, and kitchen are run by in-house volunteers.[367]
The following people are listed with the year of their funeral or memorial service in parentheses:
Visitor access[edit]
In addition to worship services, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine offers both self-guided and guided tours of the interior exhibits, the cathedral close, and the gardens. These tours require paid tickets; there are discounts for seniors and students, as well as for those in tour groups. Admission is also included within several New York City tourist passes. The cathedral is open for tourism between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Mondays through Saturdays, and between 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. on Sundays; it is open for worship between 7:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. on all days of the week.[401] Additionally, St. John's offers three types of "daily tours", specific tours of different aspects of the cathedral, which cost more than the regular tickets.[402]
Landmark status[edit]
The Cathedral of St. John the Divine complex had been considered for designation as an official landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1966. At the time, St. John's trustees had opposed the move because the structure was incomplete, and a landmark designation would have required the commission to review every proposed major expansion thereafter.[403] The church's trustees were able to prevent designation by claiming the church was not completed, using a stipulation in the landmark's law that stated that potential landmarks had to have been completed for at least 30 years. A subsequent landmark designation was precluded in 1979 for a similar reason.[9]
In 2003, the exterior of the cathedral was again considered for landmark status; the interior was ineligible because the commission was legally unable to recognize religious buildings' interiors as landmarks.[404] However, shortly after the commission conferred landmark status on the structure, the designation was unanimously overturned by the New York City Council, some of whose members favored landmark status for the entire cathedral close instead of just the main building. Councilman Bill Perkins proposed that the protective status should also be extended to the cathedral's grounds in order to control development there.[198][405] The lack of an official city landmark designation meant that the cathedral site could potentially be redeveloped,[406] and as such, two residential buildings were built on the same block as the cathedral.[201] In 2017, the cathedral and six other buildings on the grounds were re-designated a New York City Landmark; the designation excludes the two new structures.[203][407][408]