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.
