Riverside Church is the tallest church in the U.S., visible for miles along Riverside Drive and Riverside Park (as is the neighboring General Grant National Memorial). Interestingly, the 392-foot tower isn’t just for the bells – it’s the equivalent of an office building. As The New York Times reported, “The tower was not simply symbolic; it held offices, social rooms, classrooms, a bowling alley, a theater and similar spaces.”
Although Riverside Church is designed in the Gothic style, it is structurally modern: A steel frame, not the too-shallow buttresses, supports the weight of the tower.
Riverside Church Vital Statistics
- Location: 490 Riverside Drive between W 120 and W 122 Streets
- Year completed: 1930
- Architect: Henry C. Pelton and Charles Collens
- Floors: 22 (equivalent)
- Style: neo-Gothic
- New York City Landmark: 2000
- National Register of Historic Places: 2012
Riverside Church Recommended Reading
- Wikipedia entry
- NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission designation report
- Riverside Church website: Art & Architecture
- Fordham University Medieval New York
- Project MUSE: “The History of the Riverside Church in the City of New York” (book in pdf form)
- Conservation Solutions Inc. portfolio (restoration)
- The New York Times Streetscapes: Traditional Trappings for a Modern Mission (January 20, 2008)
- Not My Day Job Photography blog (Wonderful interior photos!)