My daughter has spring break coming up next week, and she is not able to raise the money to fly home. So she’s staying on her own in student housing in Manhattan. All of her friends at school are leaving town, and she’s going to be somewhat at loose ends.
Her preliminary plans include spending a few days catching up on her Netflix queue, getting a library card, and viewing a bunch of archived Broadway shows at Lincoln Center.
I was just now on the phone with her and I asked her if she had seen St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Only on the outside, apparently, as she walks past it on her way to and from school every day. So I suggested she pop in and give it a gander. Her first question to me was: is it free to visit it as a tourist? Well, it’s a church, I said; and I never saw a church that charges admission. Her counter to that was that nothing in New York is free (although somehow viewing archived Broadway shows at the Lincoln Center is, as long as you’ve got a library card).
So I turn to the dazzling cosmopolitans of the SDMB: Is it free to go into St. Patrick’s and look at the art and architecture? Let’s take it as a given that she’s tasteful and restrained enough to dress and comport herself appropriately. Is there anything significantly compelling within the cathedral to capture the attention of a young lady for a couple of hours?
Yes, free to wander in. There is a collection box on the way in if you are so inclined.
BTW - LOTS of things in NYC are free, or at least at given times. The Met is always voluntary donation; MOMA is free Friday nights; The Frick is free Sunday mornings. Worth digging around for details!
Tell her to be sure to say she’s watching the videos for “research” (i.e. she’s an actress researching a role, a student writing a paper on the show, etc.). They tend to frown on letting people watch them just to kill time or see old footage of shows just because they want to.
I don’t get the big deal about St Patricks - I found it depressing - the people there dis respectful - close to a slum (there were two table (like 8 feet long at least) covered with empty sodas)
Right across the street at 53rd and 5th is St Thomas. While not as big - IMHO - it is more beautiful, usually pretty peaceful, and quite a nice respite from the city. You can sit there and feel all calm and peaceful and feel the subway every once and a while underneath.
Both my ex and I visited both and had the same opinion.
I would encourage anyone to visit both - they are so close together it would be a shame not to.
I am an Athiest - and I visit St Thomas almost every time in New York. The only reason I go to St Patricks now is when I’m with someone to show them how St Thomas got the shaft in the tourist guides - as it is totally overrated.
Besides Central Park - I find St Thomas to be the most peaceful place in manhattan.
Let’s just stipulate that a legitimate use of the word “free” can be to convey the idea that something will not incur any immediate out-of-pocket expense.
Plenty to see in St. Patrick’s – lots of interesting architecture and stained glass. There are individual chapels along the sides, some in wildly different styles than the usual sedate standards. There is (or used to be, at least) and gift and book shop on the side.
“Close to a slum”???
St. Patrick’s is across from Rockefeller Center on Fifth Avenue in the heart of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. That’s about as tony as you can get.
As others have mentioned there are other churches to see. St. Patrick’s claim to fame is being prominent, old, and big. If you want to se older and bigger (and not yet complete), go uptown to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. But that one is in the vicinity of an area I would be cautious about.
That gave me a good laugh. There are more free things to do than time to do them. Is she not the self-directed type?
The Parks dept has an amazing list of events by type, date and boro. Free ice skating lessons, hikes, yoga, classes, exhibitions, concerts, Zumba, body sculpting, tours, you name it. They also have other activities like ballet that are so low-cost ($15) that almost anyone can afford it. You can limit your search to only free events if you want, but there are close to 300 completely free events in the next 3 days. She could be busy 24/7 and never bored if she had the slightest bit of get up and go in her personality.
Outside St. Thomas is where my wife and I, many years ago, actually saw a guy on the sidewalk carrying a sign saying “Repent! The end is near!” sort of like he’d stepped out of a bad New Yorker cartoon.
you can walk into St. Patricks, and wander for free, but you are asked to be respectful and not wander during any service happening there.
it’s free because people don’t go to New York to see the churches, but they do in London and the rest of Europe.
We visited St Patrick’s when we were in New York a couple years ago. It was a weekday afternoon when we were there; we walked in, looked around at the ‘back end’ of the church for a bit, sat down and attended mass (we are Catholic), then looked around at the ‘front end’ before the next mass began.
Many do that: they charge if you visit them as “museum / interesting architectural site” but not if you are going to services. That usually means different entrances, though; the part where services are held may be inaccesible from the tourist area.
Next time you get one of those tickets, read them carefully: they’re likely to be marked as a “donation” (at least if RCC or Orthodox).
This I believe is not true. Although the Catholic Archdiocese does receive funding from the U.S. government it is for relief programs, schools, etc. I found no evidence of U.S. funding for the operation, maintenance, and re-construction of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. ( unless my Googeling skills suck).
