St. Patrick's Cathedral

When Archbishop John Hughes announced his plan to build this massive cathedral on Fifth Avenue in the mid-nineteenth century, critics openly mocked the project as Hughes Folly. At the time, the site was considered a near-wilderness far removed from the populated center of the city. Hughes remained undeterred by the skepticism and the subsequent interruptions of the American Civil War, holding to his vision that the city would eventually grow to meet it. Today, the cathedral stands as a landmark in the heart of Midtown, effectively anchoring the bustling district that formed around it.