About Andrew Cusack
Writer, web designer, etc.; born in New York; educated in Argentina, Scotland, and South Africa; now based in London. read more
News
Blogs
Reviews & Periodicals
Arts & Design
World
France
Mitteleuropa
Knickerbockers
Argentina
The Levant
Africa
Cape of Good Hope
Netherlands
Scandinavia
Québec
India
Muscovy
Germany
Academica
The Church of the Intercession
BERTRAM GROSVENOR Goodhue considered the Church of the Intercession at 155th Street and Broadway in New York his masterpiece. Being one of the greatest American architects ever, Goodhue knew what he was talking about, and the Church is undoubtedly one of his best. He was one of the last great American creators, a modern architect working within the great tradition. (Art deco, the style in which Goodhue’s award-winning Nebraska state capitol was built, was perhaps the last style within the tradition until a few post-modernists took their stab at reconnecting with the past).
The church sits at the northern edge of what from the air would appear to be a large park, bisected by Broadway, onto which the building faces. In fact, the large green area is the cemetery of Trinity Church, founded over a century and a half ago when the churchyard down on Wall Street became full. Indeed, after the Church of the Intercession fell on hard times, it became a chapel of Trinity Church (as old St. Paul’s remains to this day), regaining its independence in the late twentieth century. It is today considered one of the most prominent black Episcopalian churches; Mayor David Dinkins was a member of the congregation and Archbishop Desmond Tutu has more than once preached from Intercession’s pulpit.
The exterior is Modern American Gothic (with the typically Goodhuesian dabbling into French styles, c.f. the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer), while the interior is much more in the vein of southern England (think of Suffolk’s Long Melford on a larger scale). The church today has rather banal banners lining the nave. I am a huge fan of banners lining the nave, but they ought to be national, governmental, ecclesistical, regimental (most commonly), heraldic, or something other than 1980’s tack in bland pastels.
I had long admired Intercession from photographs, and finally got to see it in the flesh whilst investigating (with Lucas de Soto) the splendid acropolis that is Audubon Terrace, situated on the diagonal corner across from the Church. Unfortunately, our attempts to gain access to the church proper were foiled, and the lady behind the desk in the church house said she couldn’t let us in; I am not sure what hours it is left open.
Aside from its normal weekly liturgical schedule, one can visit the Church of the Intercession to participate in an annual New York Christmas tradition and imbibe both the Knickerbocker and Nativity spirit. Ever December, a carol service is held during which Clement Clarke Moore’s ‘A Visit from St. Nicholas’ (also known as ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas’) is read, followed by a candlelight procession to Moore’s grave in the adjacent cemetery.
Goodhue was so taken with his creation that he insisted on being interred there once his earthly life came to an end. Lee Lawrie designed his memorial in the Church of the Intercession, the arch of which features a number of works Goodhue was proud to have designed or worked on, including: the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer (Upper East Side), the Nebraska State Capitol, the Church of St. Thomas (Fifth Avenue), St. Bartholomew’s Church (Park Avenue), the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel (University of Chicago), the United States Military Academy Chapel (aka the Cadet Chapel, West Point), Sterling Memorial Library (Yale University), Rice University (Texas), and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (which Goodhue had a major influence on while he was with Cram & Ferguson).
The neighbouring cemetery is also the one in which the churchyard scenes from Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums (one of our favorite films) were filmed. The Royal Tenenbaums is set in an anonymous city but many a New Yorker will instantly recognise many of the buildings used in the film. Royal, who died of a heart attack, had his tombstone inscribed “died while rescuing his family from a sinking battleship”.
Some photos lifted from the NYC AGO website (http://nycago.org/) and the New York Public Library.
Search
Instagram: @andcusack
Click here for my Instagram photos.Most Recent Posts
- Silver Jubilee November 21, 2024
- Articles of Note: 11 November 2024 November 11, 2024
- Why do you read? November 5, 2024
- India November 4, 2024
- The Lithe Efficiency of the Old Constitution November 4, 2024
Most Recent Comments
Book Wishlist
Monthly Archives
Categories
Was baptised, confirmed and married at the Church when it was The Chapel of Intercession – Are there any photos, history, archives etc. available on line?(30’s, 40’s and 50″s)
The Buildings at The Church of The Intercession are open seven days a week from the second Monday in September through the last day of June and then Tuesday through Sunday for July and August, the hours are 8AM until 4PM. The Church is only open on Thursdays @ noon for a healing mass and Sunday from 8am until 2pm for regular worship. If you wish to tour the church, please call the office @ 212.283.6200 to schedule an appointment. I’m sure you can understand how costly it is to keep a place this size open and secure, we have to take every precaution.
Elisabeth Jacobs
Senior Warden
Church of The Intercession
Bravo for identifying the buildings on the arch over Goodhue’s effigy.
The design of the Nebraska Capitol Building evolved over time, but still maintained the general appearance as Lawrie carved it above his old friend.
Around 1970 I wrote a paper called “Goodhue’s Intercession” for my Columbia architecture class. I donated a copy, with a full set of 8×10 b/w prints, to the church. At that time it was placed in the rector’s bookshelves. Perhaps they still have it.
Hello,
I, My twin sister Josephine and my brother, Thomas were all baptized and confirmed in The Chapel Of The Intercession. My older sister Anne and the three of us were all in the choir from 1947 thru 1951. My brother and I sang at Carnegie Hall at Christmas along with the Men’s and Boy’s Choir from Trinity Church four years in succession. We also went to Camp Schleuter in West Cornwall, Conn. four summers in succession along with Josephine (she went to a camp on Long Island the last year).
The years spent at The Chapel were very special to all of us.
The Vicar during those years was Father Joseph Summerville Minnis. Both of his sons, Joseph and Binna, were in the choir with us.
Should there be anyone from that era left, I would love to hear from them.
Thank you for your patience,
Joseph Paulin
My two brothers and I were in the choir during the ’50’s. Fr. Hoag and Fr. Potter were there then as well. Mrs. Spickard was the choir mother, I think. Mr. Clinton Reed was the choirmaster and Mr. Arnold was his assistant.
Wondered same thing as my Father was the Minnis U talked about
My brothers and I also were part of the Intercession choir that sang at Carnegie Hall with the Trinity Church choir, but it was for the Down Town Glee Club’s annual Christmas concert, held in the first week of December. The director was George Mead. We would climb to the precipitous, topmost reaches of the uppermost balcony to sing the descants to “Silent Night.”
Here is a link to a detailed panorama of the buildings that Andrew describes in the above article.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:High_Resolution_Stitched_Panorama_at_Goodhue%27s_Tomb_showing_some_of_his_buildings_most_famous_buildings.jpg#file
I was a member of the choir in mid 50,s and remember the recital at Carnegie Hall. Fred Arias and I were from the Bronx and walked the 155th St viaduct (weather permitting). We all used to go up to Father Potter’s tower apartment. Mr Moore was sextant and lived on grounds had a daughter named Judy. I remember director as Mr.Read but don’t remember 1st name. Good times: retirement came when voice changed
Intercession was built as a chapel of Trinity Church Wall Street.
I and my brother would visit Father Leslie J.A. Lang when he was Vicar and lived in the adjoining house.
It was ‘given’ its independence I believe in the 1980’s along with a rather paltry $2,000,000 endowment by Trinity who no longer wanted to support its several chapels or school [Trinity School was originally part of Trinity Church ]. It was considered by many Episcopalians to be a nasty and cheap treatment by the inordinately rich Trinity Church as the size of Intercession required massive amounts of money to keep the structure sound.