Building of the Week - 43rd Ed.
- Sara Regnier
- Jan 3
- 4 min read
Updated: May 26
Cathedral of St. John the Divine
1047 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10025
Alright, everybody—I’ve iced my face (and my ego), returned the Nuuly gown, and now I’m ready to dive back in.
Last week’s award show was such a blast to write, and I’m so glad to hear you all enjoyed it! It felt great to break out of the routine I’ve been in for A WHOLE YEAR (!!!).
For those who don’t know the origin story, here’s a quick recap: my husband Parker (shout out!) had a coworker who wrote daily snippets about different New York buildings. Whenever Parker liked one, he’d send it to me, and we’d geek out. Eventually, the coworker had to stop writing them because it took too much time away from other work he was actually getting paid for (too relatable) so I decided to start writing my own!
At first, it was mostly just to distract Parker at work. My first piece was on St. Patrick’s Cathedral—chosen because we’d both had… let’s say gastronomically memorable experiences here. I know the GAP bathroom across the street hates to see either of us coming. What began as a small distraction grew week by week into something bigger, and here we are!
This week, I wanted to honor that first installment by featuring another NYC cathedral: St. John the Divine. I discovered it with my friend Ashley after we saw our theatrical genius of a friend Anabella star in a play. (Anabella has since called this description of her “insane,” but I stand by it.) Up near 110th Street, we stumbled upon this behemoth, and I was blown away. I thought it was crazy to find another cathedral, but apparently, New York City has 10! Do you think if I write about all ten, I will get my next one free?
Here at Building of the Week, we are no strangers to unfinished buildings -- One Times Square, the Louis Vuitton Flagship, even that one fucked up leaning Seaport building. This cathedral might take the cake for taking an insanely long time to be completed. St. John’s is infamously unfinished, even after 130 years! Construction started in 1892 this shit is still not done. Hello?? Turns out these Episcopals are big dreamers with empty wallets and bad timing.
The dream: the world’s largest cathedral, kind of. It’s “considered” the largest Anglican cathedral globally. Idk what they mean by “consider” but okay? It either is or it isn’t!
To set the scene a bit better: Nepo baby Henry C. Potter, nephew of Bishop Horatio Potter, envisioned an “American Westminster Abbey” to rival St. Patrick’s. The price tag? $10 million. Everyone said, “Sure, sounds reasonable,” which, spoiler alert, it wasn’t.
A competition was created to see whose design was the best and they ended up going with a Romanesque-Byzantine style by George Heins and Christopher Grant LaFarge. But like 30 years later, Romanesque-Byzantine: OUT, Gothic Revival: IN. Except… that renovation would cost a lot of dough, and I’m not talkin’ about pizza! I think I’ve made that joke before.
Empty wallets: Since they had already built the fuck out of this cathedral in a style that is SO large and SO extravagant, re-doing it cost that much more. The solution: blend the two styles together. That’s cute and quirky, right? WRONG. You need a whole lot of stone for these fancy churches and stonemasons were a dying breed. And oh, no!! What’s that?? World War 1.
Bad Timing: Two World Wars stole labor, materials, and worst of all -- attention. Turns out $10 million was, in fact, not reasonable. Finally, some people came to their senses and called out the church for spending more money on gargoyles than on helping the community. I’ll be the first person to stand up in support of gargoyles, but I fear they have a point with this one.
Modern problems call for modern solutions. At one point, the cathedral leased part of its land for luxury apartments. Jesus Christ (pun intended), why do people keep thinking luxury apartments are an easy way to get rich?? Is building a luxury apartment the man equivalent to being recruited to an MLM? “Hey boy boss, do you want to be in control of your own finances and time?” Unsurprisingly, this drew backlash for its questionable ethics. It’s a condemned to eternal damnation if you do, condemned to eternal damnation if you don’t type of thing, I guess.
Despite all this, the massive structure of St. John’s is awe (and/or fear) inspiring. It’s 121,000 sq ft, 601 ft long, with a nave reaching 124 ft high—and it’s only two-thirds complete! Today, it hosts masses, large events, and art exhibitions. Walking in is like being beamed into another world (hence the pic of Ashley).
So what’s the takeaway? Good things take time. And sometimes, not-so-good things take even longer. Speaking of time… ermmm… I’m taking a hiatus! Gasp! I’ll be stepping back to recharge, maybe take a writing class, illustrate another children’s book, and figure out how to recapture that week-one magic. Don’t worry, I’ll be back. Until then, you’ve got 43 installments to revisit :)
Fun Facts
Below the cathedral lies a crypt, rarely open to the public but guided tours are sometimes available! Date night??
The cathedral hosts the annual Blessing of the Animals, where people bring their pets for a special blessing-- from cats and dogs to camels and alpacas. I wonder if Luna and Luffy would be down for that.
The original Building of the Day writer is back!! I’m looking forward to getting inspiration (stealing) from the buildings they choose :)
Maybe that fear I feel when I see this building is just that good ol' Catholic Guilt™ creeping its way up to the surface.
I'll miss you! Here is the link to the collection if you want a top-notch, high-educational reading experience at any point during this break.
Anyhoo, see you sometime! Toodaloo!
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