Author: Nataly Azcatl

Located on Madison between 37th and 36th is the Morgan Library, an independent research library. It began as a personal library for Pierpont Morgan (J.P. Morgan) and is now an open museum filled with collections of manuscripts, rare books, music, drawings, and other works of art. I had a day off of work to wander around the city and I decided to see what they had in here, not much but I had never been.

Walking through the city, I noticed this church I had never seen before—the St. Mark’s Church has 350 years of history. It’s one of the oldest sites of religious practice and the 2nd oldest church building in Manhattan. It was built as a family chapel which is why it is skewed from the City Grid. In 1799, Alexander Hamilton helped incorporate the church as the first Episcopal parish independent of the Trinity Church in the U.S. Today is still used as a church and an event space for the community every week. They just had a Thanksgiving dinner in the Welcome Center, a lunch-in, a family advent crafts and Christmas music event, and a St. Nicholas Party. They soon will be having a Christmas pageant, caroling, and cocoa, a St. Mark’s Rocks Christmas Concert and more. The lion represents Mark the Evangelist, the traditional symbol.