New York is a city of churches. Sure, there are chapels like St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue, who’s architecture and long history of faith make it renown, but in New York it goes beyond that. In the financial district lies the New York Stock Exchange, the front adorned with Corinthian columns that hark back to the pagan temples of Ancient Greece. Inside are men and women who have devout faith in a higher power – the stock market – making this building a church of capitalism. Even the Empire State Building, with its antenna stretching toward the sky like a spire, is a church of industry, a testament to the will of the American industrialist. But what about a church of the arts?
On the corner of 10th Street and 2nd Avenue lies the second oldest church in Manhattan. St. Marks Church In-The-Bowery was originally a chapel built by Peter Stuyvesant in 1660, and is actually the oldest site of continuous worship in New York City. Yet there is a quality other than the age of the building that makes it unique. The church is a staple of the art scene, supporting art across all mediums. It is home to the Poetry Project, holding readings and events every week. The church also houses Danspace Project, a dance performance group, as well as Incubator Arts Project, a group that does live performances year round. In an age where gentrification and big business is threatening the once thriving East Village art scene, St. Marks Church In-The-Bowery continues to provide a safe haven for poetry, dance, and theater as well as for the hundreds of artists and performers who work in those mediums.
