The church covers a two-block
area extending between Riverside Drive and Claremont Avenue and 120th
Street to 122nd Street. (120th Street is also named
Reinhold Niebuhr Place.) The Claremont Avenue entrance (91 Claremont Avenue) is
open daily from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Bach did much of the interior metalwork in particular for the Christ Chapel, including a door, hanging lanterns, pulpit, lectern, & window grilles.
The Riverside Church is located on Manhattan's Upper West Side in the Columbia University area. The church covers a two-block area extending between Riverside Drive and Claremont Avenue and 120th Street to 122nd Street. The Claremont Avenue entrance (91 Claremont Avenue) is open daily from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Construction for this Interdenominational church began in 1927 with the first service held on October 5, 1930. Under the leadership of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., who served as Chairman of the Building Committee, Architects Henry C. Pelton of New York and Allen & Collens of Boston together with Burnham Hoyt, Chief Designer of Artists and Craftsmen joined forces to create this magnificent French Gothic style church containing some of the finest craftsmanship of its day in the fields of metalwork, stained glass, woodwork, modeling and carving. Oscar B. Bach and Renner & Maras, both of New York, designed and executed the metalwork probably in 1930, the final year of construction.
Bach's hand can be seen most prominently in the Christ Chapel. Photographs here show Bach's iron and bronze Chapel Pulpit and Chapel Lectern along with two of the eight sanctuary lamps suspended from the Chapel's vaulted ceiling. Bach's castings for the Chapel Doors, presumably in bronze, integrate two symbols for each of the Twelve Apostles. Additional photographs show more examples of the exceptional iron grillwork on the doors, windows and lighting of Riverside Church.