St. Luke in the Fields Garden

When spring finally arrives in New York and brings warm weather and nature's bloom, there's nothing like a garden in which to relax and find peaceful solace away from the chaotic streets. 


Unless, that is, you suffer from stupid, stupid seasonal allergies. Then it's not as much fun to sit amid all the harmful foliage. I seem to have an issue with tree pollen, which was at high levels for much of May. 

But allergies aside, urban gardens are valuable and necessary for mental and spiritual health. This post looks at the garden of the Church of St. Luke in the Fields, which is on Hudson Street in the West Village.

Just inside the entrance is the main garden area, which is a big square bursting with plants, trees and flowers of all kinds. There are stone pathways along the perimeter that also connect to an open central space, and benches scattered throughout. 

At the back corner, away from the two abutting streets, Hudson and Barrow, the stone path leads further into the grounds of the church where there is a smaller space with a couple of benches. Beyond that is a final little courtyard with more places to sit, a small grass area, and an old brick wall. This back area is closest to the church building and its school.

I enjoyed the ivy that covered buildings in the front and back areas of the garden. 

I tried coming here a few months ago for the blog but there was so much noisy construction around it that I had to leave. This time there wasn't any such noise and the new luxury building nearby seemed to have been completed. There were, however, other signs of ongoing construction. There always seem to be in Lower Manhattan these days.

The West Village has been experiencing rising rents and high-end construction for so many years that it now just seems to be the way things are. Of course these things go in cycles, but who knows how long it will be before prices become more reasonable. 

Further up the block on Hudson Street is the church building, which predates all the modern luxury development, having been here since 1820 and experiencing many different iterations of the area.

At its origins the church was on farmland and in a neighborhood that was seen as an escape from the diseases of the city, which was then just the very lowest parts of Manhattan. The church was called St. Luke in the Fields to promote its rural setting. 

The West Village has long since been incorporated into the city life of New York, though even with its recent changes it is still a little more relaxed than much of Manhattan and its buildings not quite as towering and domineering. Nevertheless the church's garden now provides a welcome escape for the public from the surrounding blocks and neighborhood. 

Hopefully it won't be replaced by luxury offices and apartments any time soon.