November 2003
The New York City Council has voted to overturn the Landmark Preservation Commission’s designation of The Cathedral as an official landmark.
The Commission’s June 2003 decision to landmark the Cathedral would exclude two underutilized parcels on the Close, on the north side and the southeast corner, which would allow for development within volume and footprint constraints proposed by The Cathedral. The Cathedral has been engaged in discussions with Columbia University with respect to this prospect.
Further, Landmarks said it would continue to "calendar" other buildings (consider them for future landmark status) on the 11.3 acre Close. The Council’s decision overturns just the landmark designation.
"We are disappointed by the action of the City Council," said Henry L. King, president of The Cathedral’s Board of Trustees. "Although it does not prohibit development, we must reflect on the Council’s decision while we pursue the means to make The Cathedral financially stronger, enable it to meet historic preservation needs, and also position it to continue to serve the community for generations to come."
A Message from the Dean
Dear Friends:
It is my privilege to be Dean of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine during one the most exciting periods since construction began in 1892. It is the world's largest Gothic cathedral, even though still unfinished. A work in progress for over a century, the Cathedral has become a beloved spiritual, architectural, and civic treasure.
In the spring of 2003, the Cathedral was designated a landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, which called it "a building with a unique place in the architectural, social and cultural history of the city and the nation." Landmarking signals a next step in a constructive partnership between the Cathedral and the Commission. Ten years ago our Bishops and Trustees embarked on an in-depth study to determine the Cathedral's future. To fulfill and preserve our century-old mission, the Commission agreed in its recent decision to allow limited development of two perimeter portions of the Cathedral's 11.3-acre grounds, also known as the Close.
How will this project impact the viability of the Cathedral? The Cathedral has been undercapitalized since its inception. That's one reason why it's unfinished. Parts of the Cathedral and several of the other buildings on the Close are over 100 years old. We face some 20 million dollars in deferred maintenance. Operating deficits have depleted endowment. A great Cathedral must have programmatic as well as fiscal credibility, and the Trustees sought the best way to foster even more creative ways to achieve its diverse mission.
The Trustees always wrestle with issues of preservation and site improvement. How can we be good stewards of the Close, a beautifully landscaped urban oasis, and of its seven major buildings? Good stewardship of two perimeter parcels would make it possible for us to care for what we have and to fund the Cathedral's mission into the future. We sought input from preservation and community representatives, elected officials, zoning experts and preservationists.
We have promised that any development will be congruent with our mission and architecturally appropriate to existing buildings on the Close and in the neighborhood. It must also produce income significant to warrant a long-term ground lease. Portions of the rental revenue will help to support the operating and deferred maintenance budgets, and to rebuild endowment. We still will need widespread support from Friends of the Cathedral, Regents, and major donors. But we will be able to end our decades' old, hand-to-mouth existence, and to ground the fiscal and programmatic credibility essential to raise the funds necessary to complete the Cathedral.
Three developers expressed serious interest in the two parcels. We began an exclusive conversation with Columbia University, our longtime neighbor in the Morningside Heights section of Manhattan, because they have the capacity and interest to achieve our architectural and financial objectives
I want you to know of our pledge to respect these buildings and grounds as a sacred, historic, and cultural trust. We further pledge our responsibility to listen to, serve, and continue our ongoing relationship with all in our neighborhood and City of which we are a part and which we will continue to serve.
We have set stringent guidelines as to the height and bulk of what can be built. These rules are very protective of the Cathedral and other buildings on the Close, but also allow for a scale of development sufficient to support our mission. Designs must be reviewed by a Trustee committee that includes two members appointed by the Landmarks Preservation Commission chairman. Final approval rests with the Cathedral Trustees.
Income from the development of the two sites will help the Cathedral. It will also support a strategy to preserve the Cathedral's mission of service in perpetuity. We need an international and interfaith Cathedral in this country's most international city even more than when the Diocese of New York first conceptualized a mother church that would reach that far. We radically embrace all people, daring to say that we want to be the Cathedral for all people.
With your help, this Cathedral will have more of the resources it needs to carry out that mission faithfully, and while respecting the treasures of its architectural legacy. With your help, this Cathedral will be strengthened as we live out the values of community, hospitality, witness and stewardship, which undergird its mission.
Sincerely,
The Very Reverend Dr. James A. Kowalski, Dean