THE GUIDE

Church of the Ascension

The Church of the Ascension was founded in 1827 when New York City had a population of only 200,000. The first building was built in 1829 in Canal St. east of Broadway, it was a small white neo-Greek building that was destroyed by fire in 1839.
The current building was designed by Trinity Church author Richard Upjohn (1820-1878), who designed this neo-Gothic church in 1840 and was consecrated on November 5, 1841.
Between 1885 and 1889 the church was restored by McKim, Mead & White under the supervision of Stanford White (1853-1906) who coordinated the work of various artists.
The pulpit was designed by Charles McKim Follen, the mosaics are by D. Maitland Armstrong, the marble altarpiece by Louis Saint-Gaudens, the brother of Augustus Saint-Gaudens and finally several stained glass windows by John La Farge who painted the Ascension above the altar, considered as one of his best works.

References

Bill Harris. One Thousand New York Buildings. Black Dog & Leventhal, 2005. p. 129
Artistic heritage (The Church of the Ascension)
Parish History (The Church of the Ascension)
Church of the Ascension, Episcopal (Manhattan) (Wikipedia)