Photo of the Day: St. Raphael's Church, Long Island City, NY

Over a month ago, I happened to be walking in Long Island City when I spotted from afar the spire, 150 feet high, of what turned out to be St. Raphael Catholic Church.

Though the parish was founded in 1865, it wasn’t until 20 years later that the current brick-and-sandstone structure was completed. The demographics of the parish—largely Irish and German immigrants in its early years—have changed markedly. Estimates for language speakers are one-third each now for English, Spanish, and Korean.