The
Diocese of New York was founded by
Pope Pius VII in 1808. St. Patrick's was founded shortly afterward to serve New York City's small, but growing, Catholic population, which could no longer fit in
St. Peter's Church. At the time, there were 15,000 Catholics in the diocese. The
Jesuit community built a college on the site, which at the time was north of New York City proper. It contained a "fine old house" which was fitted with a chapel of
St. Ignatius. In 1813, the Jesuits sold the lot to the Diocese of New York. The school closed in 1814 and the diocese gave the property to Dom
Augustin LeStrange, the
abbot of a community of
Trappists who were fleeing persecution by French authorities. In addition to a small monastic community, they looked after orphans. With the downfall of
Napoleon, the Trappists returned to France in 1815, but the neighboring orphanage was maintained by the diocese into the late nineteenth century. In 1828, trustees of St. Patrick's, St. Peter's, and
St. Mary's met to discuss the feasibility of establishing a burial ground at Fifth Avenue between 50th and 51st Streets. The trustees bought the property in 1829 but did not use it as a cemetery. Bishop
John Dubois reopened the chapel in 1840 for Catholics employed at the Deaf and Dumb Asylum and in the general neighborhood. A modest frame church was built for the parish of
St. John the Evangelist and dedicated in 1841 by the Rev.
John Hughes, administrator of the diocese. Tickets were sold to the dedication to ease the parish's debt, but the mortgage was foreclosed upon, and in 1844 the church was sold at auction. The Rev. Michael A. Curran was appointed to raise funds for the devastated parish and used an old college hall as a temporary church. Curran continued raising funds to buy back the church during the
Great Famine in Ireland, eventually succeeding and taking the deed in his own name. As a result, several additional dioceses were created in New York state. Most of New York state's Catholics at the time were
Irish. Bishop
John Joseph Hughes was raised to the level of archbishop soon afterward. At the time, the Fifth Avenue site was still relatively rural. The site faced the gardens of
Columbia University to the west, but the surrounding area was otherwise characterized by rocks and unopened streets. In 1853, Hughes announced that he had hired the firm Renwick & Rodrigue to design a cathedral on Fifth Avenue between 50th and 51st Streets. The other partner,
James Renwick Jr., was largely responsible for designing the new St. Patrick's Cathedral. Renwick & Rodrigue originally planned a larger cathedral than the structure that was ultimately built. Hughes requested in 1857 that the firm reduce the dimensions of the new cathedral. To make way for the clergy's and archbishop's residences, the ambulatory was removed from the plans. The area behind the
apse would have contained a chapel dedicated to the
Blessed Virgin, but this was removed entirely. The numerous heavy buttresses in the design were also removed. To raise money for the effort, Hughes asked wealthy Catholics in the Archdiocese of New York to subscribe to a building fund for the new cathedral. One hundred and three subscribers donated $1,000 apiece, and two subscribers were non-Catholics. The cathedral was to be built in the
Gothic Revival style. In addition, an archbishop's house and a chapel would face Madison Avenue. Archbishop Hughes laid the cornerstone in front of 100,000 spectators near the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 50th Street, though the precise location remains unclear. That October, the architects presented cost estimates for making the cathedral out of white marble, brown freestone, olive freestone, or granite. The white marble was the most expensive of the four options, with a projected cost of $850,000, and James Hall and William Joyce offered to supply the marble. Even so, Renwick recommended that St. Patrick's be constructed of white marble, citing its durability and beauty. The excavations were relatively small because the underlying layer of bedrock was shallow, rising nearly to the surface near the
transept on Fifth Avenue. Work was slightly delayed by a stonecutters' strike that March. The walls had reached the
water table when all $73,000 in funds had been exhausted. When work was suspended, the walls had been built to an average height of above ground.
John McCloskey was appointed to succeed Hughes as archbishop. McCloskey created a plan to finance the construction of the new St. Patrick's Cathedral. and the constituent churches of the Archdiocese of New York promised to spend $100,000 a year until the cathedral was complete. Most funding for the cathedral came from the parishioners of these churches, who were mainly poor Irish immigrants. An editorial in the
New York World described the cathedral as being constructed "not of the superfluity of wealth, but for the most part out of the offerings of poverty". The cathedral's masonry was laid during summer as the stonework could not be laid in the cold. The entrance on Fifth Avenue, measuring tall, had also been finished. though several commentators praised the cathedral's design. A reporter for the
New York World, probably
Montgomery Schuyler, wrote in 1871 that the cathedral would be "one of the leading ecclesiastical structures in the world". By late 1875, the roof had been covered with slate and all of the walls were finished, except for a small portion along Fifth Avenue. The trustees borrowed another $100,000 from the Emigrant Bank in 1876. McCloskey made contracts for furnishings in 1874 and again in 1878. In its first three weeks, the fundraiser had an average daily attendance of between ten and eleven thousand. The fair ran for 36 nights and attracted about 250,000 total visitors when it closed on November 30. Forty-five parishes of the Archdiocese of New York had exhibits at the fair.
Opening and late 19th century The new St. Patrick's Cathedral opened on May 25, 1879. Thirty-five bishops and six archbishops attended the dedication. St. Patrick's was met with a generally positive reception from the media. The new St. Patrick's Cathedral and
Temple Emanu-El comprised the first non-Protestant houses of worship on the midtown section of Fifth Avenue. At the time, the cathedral was far removed from the developed portions of the city. The first bishop consecrated in the new cathedral was the
Michael J. O'Farrell of
Trenton, New Jersey, who became the first bishop of the
Diocese of Trenton. The cathedral's
parish originally extended from
Seventh Avenue to the
East River between 46th and
59th Streets, and the section between Madison and
Sixth Avenues extended to
42nd Street. In 1880, the section between
Third Avenue and the East River was split to the parish of
St. John the Evangelist. During the early 1880s, Renwick designed the archbishop's house and
rectory on Madison Avenue. The
Real Estate Record and Guide reported in December 1881 that Renwick had been hired to build a rectory at the southwest corner of Madison Avenue and 51st Street. Shortly afterward, Renwick filed plans for a four-story marble rectory on the site, to be built by E. D. Connoly & Son and P. Walsh. The archbishop's house was completed the same year. A memorial marble pulpit was manufactured in Italy and installed in the cathedral in October 1885. The money for the pulpit came from the clergy of the archdiocese, who had offered Cardinal McCloskey $10,000 for his
golden jubilee and commissioned the pulpit after he had declined the prize. A lack of funding precluded spires from being installed when the cathedral was completed. By late 1885, spires were planned to be installed at a cost of $190,000. Renwick filed plans for the cathedral spires in September 1885, and the contract was awarded to George Mann & Co. of
Baltimore. Excavation of the stone commenced in January 1886 and the spires were constructed starting that September. The last stones of the spires were erected in October 1888, at which point the cathedral was considered completed. At the time several hundred niches remained to be filled with figures, and ten chapels did not have their altars yet.
The Evening World said the construction of the spires "completes a notable ornament to the city". Within a year, the cathedral was surpassed in height by the
New York World Building, whose spire rose to . The funding shortages at the building's completion had also required that a "temporary" plaster and wood ceiling be installed atop the cathedral, The cathedral tested a set of four bells in the north tower in July and August 1889 to determine the tower's acoustic properties. The altar of the Holy Family was consecrated at the cathedral in 1893. A set of bells for the cathedral was manufactured in the United States. After the archbishop consecrated them, the bells were found to be defective and were never hung in the belfry. In 1895, the cathedral ordered a second set of bells to be made by the Paccards in France. The new bells were blessed by Archbishop
Michael Corrigan on August 15, 1897, though they had not been installed yet. The framework for the bells was installed in the north tower the next month. At the time of completion, St. Patrick's had more bells than any other church in the city, with 19; by comparison,
Trinity Church had ten bells and
Grace Church had nine. Also in 1897, the Spiritual Sons of De La Salle funded a new altar for the cathedral.
20th century Lady chapel and consecration Margaret A. Kelly, widow of banker
Eugene Kelly, died in 1899 and left $200,000 to the cathedral for the construction of a
Lady chapel, on the condition that the chapel not be constructed until after her death. Kelly's sons pledged additional funds for the chapel as necessary. The next year, the trustees of St. Patrick's Cathedral held an
architectural design competition for the chapel, east of the cathedral's
apse. The trustees received submissions from American, Canadian, French, and British architects before giving the commission to
Charles T. Mathews of New York City. After traveling to Europe to study architectural influences, Mathews prepared plans for the chapel by September 1900. Archbishop Corrigan was simultaneously paying off the debt on the cathedral with the intention of consecrating it after all the debts were paid off in 1908. This date was the centennial of the Archdiocese of New York's founding and the 50-year anniversary of the groundbreaking ceremony. However, he died in 1902 before the consecration or the retirement of the debt. Following a construction delay of more than one year, the Lady chapel was nearly complete by early 1905. The first Mass in the Lady chapel took place in Christmas 1906, but the interior furnishings were not complete until 1908. The chapel cost $800,000 in total. Additional changes to the cathedral took place in the first decade of the 20th century. These included the construction of an altar to St. Michael on the left side of the Lady chapel, as well as an altar to St. Joseph on the right side. By 1907, a movable bronze screen was to be installed at the transept, and the temporary wooden floor dating from the cathedral's construction was planned to be replaced with a permanent marble floor. which almost every archbishop in the United States celebrated at the cathedral in April 1908. The Lady chapel was originally outfitted with transparent windows, though its
stained-glass windows were manufactured in Europe starting in 1909. St. Patrick's Cathedral was consecrated on October 5, 1910, with Archbishop
John Murphy Farley officiating. By that time, the surrounding area was quickly being developed.
1920s through 1940s Monsignor Michael J. Lavelle started raising $625,000 from the congregation in 1926 to renovate the cathedral. The next year, Robert J. Reiley was hired to conduct renovations, including replacing the wooden floor with a marble floor. The floor was replaced between April and December 1927. The old organ was also replaced and new stained-glass windows, altar, and pews were being installed in the Lady chapel. The sanctuary was extended approximately , the metal communion rail was replaced with a bronze and marble rail, and the wooden throne was replaced with one of marble.
Amplifiers, wrought-iron doors, and new bronze chandeliers were installed. New pews were also installed, as were two new organs. With the
construction of Rockefeller Center to the west, several trees were planted around the cathedral in 1939 to complement Rockefeller Center's trees. The cathedral's rectory was closed in April 1940 for the first major renovation in its history, and it reopened that December. Archbishop
Francis Spellman announced in February 1941 that an anonymous donor had provided funding for a new high altar, to be designed by Charles Maginnis. According to Spellman's announcement, the original high altar had been "architecturally inconsistent" with the cathedral's design ever since the Lady chapel was completed, but a lack of funds had prevented the altar's replacement for four decades. The
reredos behind the original high altar blocked the view of the Lady chapel from the nave, but the cathedral's trustees wished to avoid this. The old main altar was removed in February 1942 and the new main altar of St. Patrick's Cathedral was consecrated that May. A new altar in the Lady chapel, donated by George J. Gillespie, was also consecrated in May 1942. The
George A. Fuller Company started renovating the exterior in August 1945 after blasting for a nearby building dislodged a stone from the facade. The main doorway was narrowed, and some of the projecting Gothic ornamentation was eliminated because they were prone to cracks in New York City's climate, which was characterized by abrupt temperature decreases. A bronze cross was placed atop the north tower, replacing the original stone cross there. The project involved 350 workers at its peak. By early 1947, the project was completed except for the Lady Chapel and a set of new entrance doors. Work began on an interior renovation in mid-1948, with 17 of the cathedral's 19 altars being replaced. Cardinal
Francis Spellman blessed the new bronze doors in December 1949.
1950s to 1990s In 1952, St. Patrick's Cathedral received five gifts. These funded the electrification of the cathedral chimes; an elevator to the main organ; kneeling cushions and guard cords in the pews; and new stained-glass windows. The windows, depicting 12 male and 12 female saints, were installed at the clerestory in 1954. These windows were funded by a bequest by
Atlas Portland Cement Company president John R. Morron, who left $200,000 for the archdiocese in his will. The cathedral celebrated the 100th anniversary of its cornerstone-laying in 1958. At the time, the cathedral had over three million visitors a year. The
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) considered designating St. Patrick's Cathedral as a New York City landmark in early 1966. Later that year, the LPC designated the cathedral as a New York City Landmark. Under Cardinal
Terence Cooke's leadership, the interior of St. Patrick's Cathedral was restored starting in 1972. The $800,000 project was completed in April 1973. The
cathedral close, consisting of all structures on the same block as the cathedral, was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places and declared a
National Historic Landmark in 1976. St. Patrick's Cathedral celebrated the centennial of its opening in May 1979. The cathedral's popularity was attributed to its location in midtown, and about 6,000 people attended Mass on Sundays, ninety percent of whom were visitors. The cathedral's exterior was cleaned the same year. Further restoration began in 1984 during the episcopate of Cardinal
John O'Connor. As part of the work, most of the roof was replaced, and the entrance steps, doors, and walls were also repaired.
21st century Under Cardinal
Edward Egan, another renovation of the cathedral was planned in 2006 after chunks of rock started falling from the facade. The project was conducted between 2012 and 2015 at a cost of $177 million. The renovation was designed by
Murphy Burnham & Buttrick and led by construction manager Structure Tone. The renovation involved cleaning the exterior marble, repairing stained-glass windows, painting the ceiling, and replacing the flooring and steps. Work was completed by September 17, 2015, before
Pope Francis visited the cathedral the next week. The scaffolding was removed in July 2016. The cathedral and the renovations were featured on WNET's television program
Treasures of New York. The LPC approved a garage on the 50th Street side of the cathedral in late 2015. The garage was designed to provide a secure entrance for Cardinal
Timothy M. Dolan. In 2017,
MBB Architects and Structure Tone, Landmark Facilities Group, and P.W. Grosser completed a new geothermal system under St. Patrick's Cathedral, believed to be the largest in New York City. The gardens adjoining the cathedral to the north and south were excavated for the system's construction, and they were replanted after installation was complete. The same October, a shrine to the
Lebanese Maronite Saint
Charbel Makhlouf was dedicated at St. Patrick's Cathedral. The cathedral was temporarily closed for in-person Mass in 2020 during the
COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. The pandemic severely reduced the cathedral's finances as much of its income came from donations at Mass and the archdiocese did not fund the cathedral's maintenance. It was reopened for full-capacity worship in May 2021. Following the rezoning of East Midtown in the late 2010s, the Archdiocese of New York began planning to sell the
air rights attached to the cathedral's site. In December 2023,
Citadel LLC and
Vornado Realty Trust agreed to pay as much as $164 million for up to of the cathedral's air rights, which would be transferred to a site at 350 Park Avenue. Also in 2023,
Adam Cvijanovic won a competition to paint a mural at St. Patrick's. Cvijanovic's mural, ''
What's So Funny About Peace, Love, and Understanding'', was installed in 2025; it is the largest artwork ever installed at the cathedral, as well as the first since the bronze doors in 1949. == Main structure ==