Saturday, October 10, 2009

Openings and closings

This is the weekend of one of the City's funnest events, Open House New York - all sorts of places ordinarily closed to the public are open for viewing. I didn't have time to do too much this time, but I did peek into the First Baptist Church at 79th and Broadway, home of the nearly aniconic stained glass above. (The whole place was once lit by glass of this kind - a kind of crystal cathedral for 1895 - but persistent leaks led them to cover the glass ceiling with Spanish tiles; now it's dark.) But the coolest view was an opening of another kind: St James' Church through the temporary opening of a building site. Between these two is Central Park, Manhattan's most beloved opening.