Postcards · August 26, 2025

While wandering Manhattan’s Lower East Side with a friend, we accidentally stumbled into the Museum at Eldridge Street—an extraordinary 1887 immigrant synagogue hidden inside modern Chinatown. What followed was part architectural revelation, part neighborhood history, and part gloriously awkward conversation about mikvehs, migration, and the many layers underneath New York.

Essays · August 24, 2025

During a month in Harlem, I became fascinated by the neighborhood’s storefront churches. Some occupied former shops, others appeared to meet in homes, and many belonged to congregations I’d never heard of. What began as a photo safari led to a deeper story about migration, community, and the making of Harlem.

Postcards · August 18, 2025

A behind-the-scenes tour of St. Patrick’s Cathedral starts in fluorescent-lit offices and a surprisingly modest crypt before opening into the familiar grandeur upstairs. Along the way, a quiet chapel, a Lebanese saint, and a Haitian hairdresser complicate expectations about what belongs—and who earns a place—in one of New York’s most recognizable spaces.

Postcards · August 15, 2025

The Cathedral of St. John the Divine doesn’t quite behave like a cathedral should. It’s unfinished, stylistically inconsistent, and full of unexpected details—from modern art to American “saints.” The result isn’t confusion so much as a building that never stopped evolving—and doesn’t seem especially interested in starting now.

Postcards · March 22, 2025

It was late when we wandered into the cathedral. The lights were already dimming, the crowd thinning. Our plan was to return later, but the week didn’t cooperate. But what we got was unforgettable…