Landmarks creates Morningside Heights historic district

The city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to approve a new Morningside Heights historic district Tuesday, with the Cathedral of St. John the Divine receiving individual landmark status.

The commission voted unanimously to designate 116 buildings — including the cathedral — from 109th to 119th streets between Riverside Drive and Amsterdam Avenue, according to DNAinfo. In addition, Landmarks released a 3D online map providing information about each building.

The new district includes townhouses dating back to the 1800s, along with prewar apartments. More than 60 percent of the buildings were constructed between 1900 and 1910.

The first stage of construction at The Cathedral Took Place between 1892 and 1911, and the second phase of French Gothic design, when the nave was completed, ran from 1916 to 1941. A third phase began in 1979, and some work remains unfinished.

The area is “defined by its history more so than almost any other neighborhood,” said Council member Mark Levine. “Its status as a bastion of public institutions dates from two centuries ago, and today, Morningside Heights is home to more world-class academic, cultural, religious and medical institutions than almost any other neighborhood in America.”

Last last year, the commission voted to designate the Sullivan-Thompson Historic District, bringing a decade-long campaign to block unfettered development in Manhattan’s South Village to a close.

[DNAinfo] — Miriam Hall