EASTER IN NYC. THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE

Today, The Grandma has visited the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Morningside Heights to commemorate Easter.

The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, sometimes referred to as St. John's and or St. John the Unfinished, is the cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of New York.

It is at 1047 Amsterdam Avenue in the Morningside Heights neighbourhood of Manhattan in New York City, between West 110th Street (also known as Cathedral Parkway) and West 113th Street.

The cathedral is an unfinished building, with only two-thirds of the proposed building completed, due to several major stylistic changes and work interruptions. 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 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. The floor area of St. John's is 11,200 m2, spanning a length of 183 m, while the roof height of the nave is 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.

More information: The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine

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.

The neighbourhood of Morningside Heights was thinly settled in the 17th century by the Dutch, then by the British.

It remained rural through the mid-19th century, with two exceptions. The first was the Bloomingdale Insane Asylum, no longer extant, which opened on the site of the Columbia University campus near 116th Street in 1821.

The other was Leake and Watts Orphan Asylum, bounded by 110th Street to the south and 113th Street to the north, which later became the current cathedral site. The Leake and Watts asylum was incorporated in 1831 under act of the New York State Legislature, and three years later, 10 ha land at the corner of Bloomingdale Road (now Broadway) and 110th Street was purchased from the Bloomingdale Asylum.

The initial plans for the asylum were drawn up by Ithiel Town, but were revised several times to keep the costs within the asylum's budget. The cornerstone of the asylum was laid in 1838, and it was completed in 1843.

More information: Masonry Magazine

 None of the dead come back. But some stay.

St. John the Divine