St. John the Divine is New York City's-- scratch that, the world's-- largest Gothic cathedral, meaning it's the biggest Gothic church with a seat for the bishop.
It's a 120-year-old combination of Gothic and Romanesque revival architecture that is as stunning from the outside as it is within.
And now, much of the view of this glorious structure is obscured by a couple of new Morningside Heights condos. Shucks. So the latest development in the proximity of St. John's is called Enclave at the Cathedral, and the name isn't all that far off.
It's effectively created an enclave around the cathedral, because you literally can't see the religious structure anymore--unless you're peering right between towers.
And seriously, enough with the condos already, New York City.
There are probably too many of them at this point, anyway, right? Can we please chill on the construction of high rise condo towers for just a lil' while? Or at least make them semi-affordable for the 99%? (We know, hilarious.)
But such is the nature of NYC's property development tendencies.
It wouldn't be so much of a slap in the face to the City if the Enclave was even remotely as visually stimulating as the cathedral, but alas, it's not. It looks like college dorms with wiggly windows. Greatttttttt.
[anad]
Now it's not like the cathedral itself wasn't complicit in the Enclave's development: it's on the cathedral's property. The 99-year lease will slide $5 million per year into the cathedral's coffers, and that's probably a good thing.
Since a catastrophic fire back in 2001, St. John's has been struggling to rebuild what has always been an incomplete cathedral. It's not uncommon for cathedrals to be under construction for decades, but we're not in the Renaissance anymore. You know, we have bulldozers and things of the such nowadays.
via Curbed NY
No matter what year it is, money is the main thing that pushes along construction. So perhaps it's not the end of the world that there are some reasonably stupid-looking towers in the way of the cathedral.
In all seriousness, that means the cathedral will have a solid flow of dough for longer than any of us will probably be alive. So the end result: win-win... right?
Is Anybody Even Buying All of These New Luxury Condos Poppin' Up Left and Right in NYC?
[via Curbed NY]