St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Cathedral

15 East 97th Street | East Harlem | built 1902

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The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1901

    May 22

    The cornerstone of St. Nicholas Cathedral is laid on the Feast of the Translation

    The cornerstone was laid on May 22, 1901, the feast day marking the transfer of St. Nicholas's relics from Myra to Bari. The congregation, founded in 1894, had been meeting in a rented house at 323 Second Avenue. Dean Alexander Hotovitsky handled the purchase of the 75-by-100-foot lot on East 97th Street in September 1899, a plot smaller than first sought and not on a corner because of New York's high real-estate costs.

    “The ceremony of laying the cornerstone took place on May 22, 1901, the day of the Feast of Translation…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1901

    Tsar Nicholas II donates toward a new cathedral for Russian immigrants

    The congregation, founded in a rented house on Second Avenue in 1894, had grown to 300 members by 1900 and needed a permanent home. Dean Alexander Hotovitsky traveled to Moscow to raise funds, and Tsar Nicholas II became one of the first donors, giving 5,000 rubles. The cornerstone was laid in 1901 with sailors from the Russian warship Retvizan in attendance.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1902

    July 20

    Bishop Tikhon, later a canonized Patriarch of Moscow, dedicates the cathedral

    Architect John Bergesen's Moscow Baroque-style cathedral was dedicated in a ceremony led by Tikhon, Bishop of North America. Tikhon returned to Russia in 1907, was elected Patriarch of Moscow in 1917, and was later canonized as a saint by the Orthodox Church.

    Source: Wikipedia

  4. 1904

    February 14

    Bishop Tikhon rallies the congregation during the Russo-Japanese War

    On February 14, 1904, with the Russo-Japanese War going badly for Russia, Bishop Tikhon of North America addressed the worshippers at St. Nicholas. He urged them to trust that Russia would prevail with the help of God and Saint Nicholas. The New York Times reported that a congregation stunned by the news from the front seemed to take courage from his words.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  5. 1905

    The Russian Orthodox diocese of North America moves its seat here from San Francisco

    The Russian Holy Synod raised St. Nicholas to cathedral rank in December 1903. Two years later, in 1905, the diocesan seat for North America moved from San Francisco to New York, making the East 97th Street church the center of the Russian Church in North America. The landmark designation report says the cathedral continues to serve the church's needs in this country.

    “The Russian Holy Synod elevated St. Nicholas Church to Cathedral status in December 1903, and the Diocesan Seat of North America was transferred…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  6. 1923

    Parishioners carry Rev. Kedrovsky, sent by the Communists to replace Metropolitan Platon, out onto the sidewalk

    In 1923 the Communists in Russia sent Rev. John F. Kedrovsky to replace Metropolitan Platon as bishop in America. Congregants at St. Nicholas carried Kedrovsky out of the cathedral and set him down roughly on the sidewalk. A long fight for control of the building followed, with first one faction and then the other taking possession.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  7. 1925

    A Soviet-backed priest wins court control of the cathedral

    Amid a schism between the traditional church and a Communist-appointed reform movement, New York courts awarded control of the cathedral to the Rev. John F. Kedrovsky in 1925. The traditional hierarchy did not regain the building until the U.S. Supreme Court overturned that ruling in 1952.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  8. 1952

    November 24

    The Supreme Court strikes down the New York law that had given the cathedral to the American church

    In Kedroff v. St. Nicholas Cathedral, decided on November 24, 1952, the Supreme Court reversed the New York Court of Appeals, which had applied Article 5-C of the state's Religious Corporations Law to the dispute. Justice Reed's opinion held that the statute violates the Fourteenth Amendment because it transferred control of the New York churches to the Russian Church in America. In a concurring opinion, Justice Frankfurter wrote that government may not decide who is the true exponent of a religion.

    Source: law.cornell.edu

  9. 1973

    The city designates the cathedral a landmark

    The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Cathedral an official city landmark in 1973. The Moscow Baroque-style cathedral has served as the seat of the Russian Orthodox Church in America since 1903.

    Source: Wikipedia

  10. 2000

    A $4 million restoration regilds the domes ahead of the building's centennial

    With the church's 100th anniversary approaching, a $4 million restoration began in 2000 under architect Stephen Papadatos. The work included regilding the domes, cleaning the facade and restoring the interior. A further $1 million went to repairing and repainting the historic icons.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

Nearby

All 38 buildings with stories in East Harlem