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A stunning photographic journey through the sacred spaces, architecture, and communities of all five boroughs
New York City is home to an extraordinary array of sacred spaces: soaring sanctuaries, intimate chapels, historic synagogues, vibrant mosques, ornate temples, and houses of worship woven into the fabric of everyday neighborhoods. Together, they tell a remarkable story of faith, architecture, immigration, community, and the ever-changing city.
In Houses of Worship: Sacred Spaces of New York, acclaimed photographer Andrew Garn travels across all five boroughs to document this remarkably diverse religious landscape. Bringing together architectural and street photography, his images capture grand interiors and vernacular buildings alike, revealing stained glass, carved stone and wood, devotional objects, ceremonial spaces, and the distinctive visual languages through which New Yorkers have expressed belief and belonging.
These buildings are more than places of worship. They are neighborhood landmarks, gathering places, repositories of art and history, and anchors for generations of immigrants and their descendants. Many have been altered, restored, repurposed, or threatened over time, reflecting the changing communities and cultural life around them. Historical profiles by Brooklyn architectural historian and neighborhood activist Suzanne Spellen provide context for fifty of the sites, illuminating their architecture, histories, and place within the city. Contributing essays by religious leaders, a borough historian, and a theology scholar specializing in religious diversity offer deeper reflections on the vitality of these sacred spaces and how critical they are to the lives of New York City residents.
Organized to invite exploration across the boroughs, Houses of Worship offers a richly visual portrait of New York through sacred spaces both celebrated and easily overlooked. It is a distinctive record of the city’s architecture, religious diversity, and continually evolving cultural landscape.
Contributors: Adad Dandia, Jeannine Hill Fletcher, Andrew Garn, Rev Ann Kansfield, Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, and Suzanne Spellen
Andrew Garn is a New York-based freelance photographer and writer. He is the author of twelve books, including New York Art Deco, New York by Neighborhood, Wildflowers of New York, and The New York Pigeon. He has worked as a collections photographer for the Cooper Hewitt Museum for fourteen years and as an art curator for the Wild Bird Fund since 2015.
Jeannine Hill Fletcher (Foreword By)
Jeannine Hill Fletcher is professor of theology at Fordham University. She is the author of The Sin of White Supremacy: Christianity, Racism, and Religious Diversity in America (Orbis, 2017).