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Built in 1767–8, this church has a glorious Georgian interior lit by Waterford chandeliers. The pew where George Washington prayed after his inauguration as president has been preserved (see St. Paul’s Chapel).

Built in 1802–12, this Georgian building with French Renaissance influences is one of New York’s finest. The interior features a rotunda circled by Corinthian columns, opening to twin spiral marble staircases.

This lovely, square-towered church has bronze doors designed by Richard Morris Hunt. Built in 1839–46, the spire, once the tallest in Manhattan, is now dwarfed by Wall Street towers. Alexander Hamilton and Robert Fulton are buried here.

James Renwick, Jr. designed America’s largest Catholic cathedral (built in 1878) in French Gothic style with twin 330-ft (100-m) towers. The interior has side altars dedicated to saints and holy figures, chapels, and stained-glass windows.

Philanthropist Andrew Carnegie financed the city’s first great concert hall, built in 1891. Major renovation in 1996 restored the wonderful interior bronze balconies and ornamental plaster, and added a museum. Corridors are lined with memorabilia of the great artists who have performed here (see Carnegie Hall, Carnegie Hall).

The world’s largest cathedral was begun in 1892 and is still a work in progress. The part-Romanesque, part-Gothic building is impressive for its stonework, enormous nave, bay altar windows, and rose window. The seat of New York’s Episcopal archdiocese, the church is the scene of many avant-garde musical and theatrical events (see Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine).

Built in 1903 and reminiscent of a Roman temple, the façade of this 17-story edifice is appropriately monumental for the building at the center of the U.S. economy. The figures on the pediment represent Commerce. “Black Thursday,” the start of the Depression, began here in 1929.

One of the city’s best Neo-Classical buildings, this eight-story structure, built in 1907, features an elaborate mansard roof and fine sculptures, including four by Daniel Chester French. A 1927 nautical mural by Reginald Marsh adorns the huge, oval rotunda.

This white marble, 1911 Beaux Arts edifice is magnificent inside and out. Imposing stairways, terraces, and fountains inspire awe; Periodicals Reading Rooms invite repose. Events and talks are held here.

Resplendent after restoration, this public facility from 1913 is remarkable for its beauty; the soaring main concourse is suffused with natural light. Of note is the vaulted ceiling of cerulean blue, decorated with twinkling constellations.