2. St. Jean Baptiste Catholic Church

St. Jeane Baptiste Catholic Church, located at 184 East 76th Street on the Upper East Side, was designed by Nicholas Serracino. The limestone construction building was completed in 1913, designed with multiple architectural styles in mind including Italian Renaissance Revival, Italian Mannerism, and Neo-Classic Revival.

The Catholic church in New York City grew from French-Catholics who wanted to begin their own congregation and the stained glass featured in the church was brought with them from Chartres, France and the church’s altar is from Italy. St. Jeane was built during a time when Catholic churches were attempting to find their own architectural style that differed from the Gothic choices of Protestant churches.

The church has moved twice since its original building. The current Nicholas Serracino building was paid for by Thomas Fortune Ryan after he arrived for church late one day, was shamed by having to stand during the entire service, after which he offered to pay for the new building.