The French Connection

From early on, the Morningside Heights neighborhood has benefited from its strong links to France. Architecture, art, important institutions, and the ever-persistent numbers of expat French living here, French influences can be found in all…

French Architecture and Architects

The French architecture and architects in the neighborhood have included:Ernest Flagg, an American architect in the Beaux-Arts style, who designed St. Luke’s after having recently returned from study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris.…

Tightroper Philippe Petit

Living legend Philippe Petit, famous for his dangerously high tightrope walking, particularly between the Twin Tower in 1974, celebrated his book Why Know? How to Tie More Than 60 Ingenious, Useful, Beautiful, Lifesaving and Secure Knots! with…

Maison Francaise at Columbia University

The Maison Française was established by Columbia president Nicholas Murray Butler in 1913 as a “center for the study of French civilization and French literature” — the first French cultural institute on an American campus. That inaugural…

Church of Notre Dame French Mass

In October 2012 Timothy Cardinal Dolan announced the closing of the French National Church, St. Vincent de Paul, on January 6th 2013, after the celebration of the last Mass on the Feast of the Epiphany. It was celebrated to an overflowing…

Church of Notre Dame History, Art, and Architecture

The Church of Notre Dame began in 1910 - not first as a church, but as a chapel; not first as a parish, but as a mission. It is hard to realize, looking at the busy, cosmopolitan area of Morningside Heights today, that not so many years…