[14] The plans were canceled because of objections over erecting such a large building for the diocese, a derivative of the Church of England, even as many New Yorkers still harbored resentment over the American Revolutionary War.

[15][18][28] News media such as The New York Times and Uptown Visitor praised the decision, as the site was located on a high point overlooking Central and Morningside parks.

However, that plot would be too difficult to acquire, as ownership of that tract was divided among several entities; by contrast, the Leake and Watts Asylum had full control over their entire city block.

[33] The finalists were given more than a year to refine the details of their plans: the original deadline was set for February 1890,[42] but was later extended to November[43] after a failed proposal to host the World's Columbian Exposition in Morningside Park.

[51][30][49] It was also Heins & LaFarge's first major commission: the firm later designed structures such as the Astor Court buildings at the Bronx Zoo, as well as the early stations of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, the first operator of the present-day New York City Subway.

[95] Gutzon Borglum was commissioned for some of the initial sculptural elements on St. John's, though his relation with the trustees was strained: he destroyed two angels after criticism of his work[96] and threatened to quit in 1906.

Even the trustees started to have doubts about certain aspects of the plan, criticizing Heins & LaFarge's small staff, their simultaneous involvement in many other projects, slow construction, and cost overruns.

[163][167][168] In the 1970s, the cathedral's activities turned toward improving quality of life in Morningside Heights; helping the elderly, young, and the environment; and participating in the civil rights movement and the opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War.

[179] Work on the western facade's towers was restarted with the opening of St. John's stone yard, the Cathedral Stoneworks, which received its first several Indiana limestone blocks in June 1979.

[183] Under the leadership of master stone carvers Nicholas Fairplay, Simon Verity, and Jean Claude Marchionni, work on the statuary of the central portal of the cathedral's western elevation was started in 1988[169][184] and completed in 1997.

[195] In January 2005, the cathedral began a major restoration to not only remove smoke damage resulting from the 2001 fire, but also clean the 80 years of dirt accumulation in the nave.

[198] At the same time, St. John's officials wanted to lease out the lots at the northern and southern borders of the cathedral close for further development, a move that preservationists unsuccessfully attempted to prevent.

[218] St. John's is oriented west–east relative to the street grid[219][e] and was originally supposed to have a cruciform plan, with transepts extending to the north and south of the crossing near the eastern end of the cathedral.

[76] The modern plan for the building, as it appeared upon its official opening in 1941, conforms primarily to the second design campaign from the prolific Gothic Revival architect Ralph Adams Cram.

[81][223][224][184] Cram had initially wanted to use English Gothic models, which typically placed less emphasis on vertical elements and height, and which contrasted with the extant parts of the cathedral.

[237][244] From west to east, the sub-bays along the northern side of the nave are named the Sports, Arts, Crusaders, Education, Lawyers, Ecclesiastical Origins (Anglican), and Historical and Patriotic Societies' (American), and Fatherhood bays.

The sub-bays on the southern side are named the All Souls', Missionary, Labor, Press (Communication), Medical, Religious Life (Earth), Armed Forces (Military), and Motherhood bays.

[255][256] In 2001 the choir parapet was completed with carvings of Martin Luther King Jr., Albert Einstein, Susan B. Anthony, and Mohandas Gandhi by stonecarver Christopher Pellettieri.

[107] A compass rose, the official icon of the Anglican Communion (in which the Episcopal Church participates), is located on the floor between the two stalls, in the center of the choir.

[262][261][263] After two years of extensive and detailed refurbishment work, including a reorganization of many pipes and a rebuilding of the console, the organ finally returned to service in 2008 as part of an overall $41-million cleaning and repair to the cathedral.

The space contains the English Gothic style tomb of the man who originally conceived and founded the cathedral, the Right Reverend Horatio Potter,[279] which was dedicated in 1921.

[100] A three-year renovation project from 2019 to 2022 repaired cracks in tiles, patched concrete, added new protective materials, and built a new copper dome over the crossing.

The items stored in the crypt include artifacts such as pieces of the destroyed Pennsylvania Station and World Trade Center, as well as wooden angels, plaster gargoyles, leadlights, antique furniture, and a single-file line of saints.

[66] The following month, the trustees certified plans for the Synod Hall, bishop's house, and deanery,[305][306] as well as the never-built diocesan offices and canons' residences.

[9][309] Brick wings flanked the central pavilion to each side, and originally contained wooden porches along their facades, replaced with iron balconies in 1888.

[311] The building has also housed the Museum of Religious Art, as well as offices, shops, choir rehearsal quarters, sacristies, and the Cathedral Community Cares program.

[327] The bishop's house is four stories tall and is largely in the same design, but part of the northern elevation is made of exposed brick, marking the location where it would have connected to the unbuilt southern transept.

[365] The pulpit green contains the Peace Fountain, a large bronze work of public art by the cathedral's sculptor-in-residence, Greg Wyatt.

In 1971, the cathedral founded ACT (Athletics, Creativity, and Trips), a program that provided after-school activities and summer camp to children in the neighborhood.

At the time, St. John's trustees had opposed the move because the structure was incomplete, and a landmark designation would have required the commission to review every proposed major expansion thereafter.