Yesterday, the Moscow-based Russian Orthodox Church and the New York-based Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) reunified after 90 years. The ceremony was held on 17 May at Moscow’s Christ the Saviour Cathedral.
There, Russian Orthodox Patriarch Aleksey II and ROCOR Metropolitan Lavr formally signed a document restoring relations and then celebrated a joint service.
ROCOR broke away from the Russian Orthodox Church in Russia when the Revolution began in 1917. White Russian bishops set up a separate Church body first in Stavropol, then in Karlovac in Yugoslavia. The body moved to its current headquarters on East 93rd Street in Manhattan in the late 1930s.
ROCOR today claims 500,000 members in over 30 countries. The Russian Orthodox Church is the largest Orthodox Church in the world.
Ties with Moscow were severed completely in 1927, when the then-Patriarch of Moscow formally declared his loyalty to the Soviet regime. Supporters said he acted to preserve the Church in Russia; opponents saw it as treachery.
Even though the two Churches will now be reunified, the ROCOR will maintain its separateness. In fact, it seems that little will actually change other than ROCOR acknowledging the leadership of the Patriarch of Moscow.
Of course, now there is the risk of ROCOR believers resisting the reunification and splitting of themselves, but talk of that is being downplayed. Another controversy concerns the role of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Called “one of the grandest houses to survive in Manhattan” by the New York Times’s Christoper Gray, the old George F. Baker Jr. residence at the northwest corner of 93rd Street and Park Avenue is now home to the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. Its history is detailed in a 22 October 1989 article in Gray’s Streetscapes series published in the New York Times, “The Baker Mansion on Park at 93d; Under the Servants' Quarters, a Railroad Siding?”
The original part-Federal part-Georgian structure was built mostly in 1917 by Francis F. Palmer, who had made his fortune financing British war loans during World War I. The architects were Delano & Aldrich. The original structure included the walled-in garden with a fountain in the center.
Ten years later, George F. Baker, Jr. acquired the house and retained the original architects to expand the house to include a ballroom and separate garage around the garden, and a guest house along 93rd Street. Baker died in 1937 and his wife sold off the building to the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. The Church made additional modifications, cutting a vehicular entrance into the courtyard, converting the ballroom into a cathedral and adding a staircase from the courtyard to the new church. Otherwise, little has changed since the Bakers lived there.
(Photos: New York Architecture Images)
A number of diplomatic missions from Slavic countries occupy landmark buildings in Manhattan. From the AIA Guide to New York City:
The Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the UN (136 East 67 Street) did not make the cut for the AIA Guide, but the Consulate of the Russian Federation (9 and 11 East 91st Street) did.
Built in 1902-1903 as the John Henry and Emily Vanderbilt Sloane Hammond House and the John B. and Caroline Trevor House, the Soviet Union purchased the building to open a consulate in 1975.
However, when the USSR invaded Afghanistan, President Carter forbade the opening of the Consulate. The building sat vacant from 1979 until 1992, and deteriorated. After extensive rennovation it opened as the Russian Consulate in 1995 (p. 429, and STREETSCAPES: 9 East 91st Street; A Soviet Palazzo Off Fifth Ave).
The Russian Mission also maintains a diplomatic residence in the Bronx (355 West 255th Street at Mosholu Avenue). The 19-storey apartment building was constructed in 1975 (p. 611).
The Permanent Mission of the Republic of Poland to the UN (9 East 66th Street) was built in 1909-1912 as the Charles and Louise Flagg Scribner, Jr. House. The building's architect, Ernest Flagg, was also responsible for many others in the city, including the Singer Building in SoHo and the rectory of St. Mark's in the Bowery Church in the East Village as well as several buildings for Scribner (p. 395).
The Polish Consulate General (233 Madison Avenue at 37th Street) also made the guide. Built in 1905-1906 as the Joseph R. DeLamar House, the building also once housed the National Democratic Club (p. 242-243).
The Permanent Mission of Serbia and Montenegro to the UN (formerly the mission of the SFR Yugoslavia, 854 Fifth Avenue between 66th and 67th Street), was built between 1903 and 1905 as the R. Livingston and Eleanor T. Beckman House (p. 394).
Somehow, the beautiful building of the Permanent Mission of the Czech Republic to the UN (1109-1111 Madison Avenue) did not make it into the AIA Guide...hopefully the ediors will include it in the next edition. The building also houses the Consulate General and the Czech Center.
(Photos: Russian Consulate and Polish Mission, from NY Architecture Images; Czech Mission from www.czechcenter.com)
Open House New York ended yesterday after opening more than 150 site to the public free of charge over the weekend. As previously mentioned on Slavs of New York, there were several sites of interest to the local Slavic community. One of the most interesting was site #103, Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Virgin Protection (59 East 2nd Street).
(above) Exterior of the church, as seen from inside OHNY site #91 New York City Marble Cemetery, just across the street.
From 1903 until 1970, this was the headquarters of the Russian Orthodox Church in America. The parish was founded in 1870, lost its original building (St. Nicholas on East 97th Street) to the Soviet Government in 1925 and purchased the current building (a former German Reformed church) in 1943.
(above) Interior of the church.
(above) Cat-acumen, the parish cat. According to Fr. Michael, cats are the only animals allowed in Orthodox churches, because they help keep them clean by catching mice.
(above) Icon of the three saints of New York City. The middle one is St. Tikhon, who moved the seat of the Church from San Francisco to New York in 1903, and to his left is St. Raphael of Brooklyn.
(above) And finally, one of the choicest finds in the cathedral was this icon of St. Olga, done in a Gustav Klimt-inspired Art Nouveau/Secession style, *very* rare for an Orthodox icon.
Also on the list of OHNY sites was #61, Harry F. Sinclair House (Ukrainian Institute of America, 2 East 79th Street).
(above) View of the ballroom.
For more OHNY shots , check out Curbed's Monday AM Linkage: Open House NY Edition (which includes Slavs of New York in the list o'links!)
On 3 January 2003, the New York Times published an article by Richard Lourie called "Mother Russian in Her Dens" which is required reading for anyone interested in the Slavic side of New York.
The tail end of the article includes extensive listings, including:
- THE RUSSIAN AND TURKISH BATHS, 268 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 473-8806.
- ST. NICHOLAS RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CATHEDRAL, 15 East 97th Street, (212) 996-6638; usually open daily, 9 a.m. until 6 or 7 p.m.
- THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH OUTSIDE OF RUSSIA, 75 East 93rd Street, (212) 534-1601; open daily, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- IKON, 472 Avenue of the Americas, at 12th Street, Greenwich Village, (212) 647-0410.
- RUSSIAN DIAMOND CLUB, 580 Fifth Avenue, at 47th Street, (212) 921-4300.
- À LA VIEILLE RUSSIE, 781 Fifth Avenue, at 59th Street, (212) 752-1727.
- ANNA'S RESTAURANT, at the Russian and Turkish Baths, 268 East 10th Street, East Village, (212) 473-8806.
- ANYWAY CAFE, at 34 East Second Street, at Second Avenue, East Village, (212) 533-3412.
- RESTAURANT PRAVDA, 281 Lafayette Street, near Prince Street, SoHo, (212) 226-4696.
- THE RUSSIAN SAMOVAR, 256 West 52nd Street, (212) 757-0168.
- UNCLE VANYA'S, 315 West 54th Street, (212) 262-0542.
It misses some favorites, though, like the Firebird on West 46th street and the Russian Vodka Room on West 52nd.
(Photo from http://www.nyc-architecture.com/UES/UES092.htm)
Yesterday, the Moscow-based Russian Orthodox Church and the New York-based Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR) reunified after 90 years. The ceremony was held on 17 May at Moscow’s Christ the Saviour Cathedral.
ROCOR today claims 500,000 members in over 30 countries. The Russian Orthodox Church is the largest Orthodox Church in the world.
