The original Grace Episcopal Church was built as the neighbor to Trinity Church downtown. When forced to vacate its site and move uptown in 1843, the church chose a site on Broadway at a point where the street curves westward - at 10th Street - making the new church visable from its former location.

A young, unproven architect named James Renwick, Jr - the man who later designed St. Patrick's Cathedral - was commissioned for the project, and this helped launch his career. Renwick chose a Gothic style for the building long before the Gothic Revival and Grace Church was the first such building in NYC.

The religious complex was expanded in the 20th century and now includes a school adjacent to the church.

Though I'm not personally known to set foot within religious buildings, I dormed across the street from Grace Church during my brief tenure at NYU and felt compelled to enter Grace Church. This particular church stirred me as a truly beautiful edifice, enhanced at night by the well placed lighting that illuminates the church - making it quite an appropriate building for a city known as Gotham.

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