Five years ago, a devastating fire broke out in the wooden rafters of Notre-Dame, the world’s most famous cathedral, which sits on a 27-acre island in the middle of the Seine River.
“That island is what came to be called Paris,” said Michael Kimmelman, chief architecture critic for The New York Times, during an interview with Michael Barbaro. “The Romans settled there, and it’s been the sun around which the city has revolved.”
When the iconic cathedral went up in flames on April 15, 2019, cries of mourning echoed from Parisians, international visitors, and Catholics around the world.
“What started as a fire from a cigarette butt became a kind of existential crisis for Notre-Dame and for the world,” Kimmelman said.
Almost no one believed French President Emmanuel Macron when he vowed the renovations would be finished in five years.
“I thought it was nuts,” Kimmelman admitted. “I even told my editors there was absolutely no way this would happen in five years.”
But Macron kept his word. Last week, in a moment of triumph, Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and Jill Biden all sat in attendance for the reopening.
What’s Your Notre-Dame?
Kimmelman says the higher importance associated with the renovations may explain the speedy renovations.
“People were working on something that was bigger, longer-lasting than themselves — and that they were proud of,” he said.
This sentiment reminds me of an exhibit I saw yesterday at the New-York Historical Society on Robert Caro’s enduring legacy and his most famous book: The Power Broker.
The iconic biography of Robert Moses was Caro’s passion project — his Notre-Dame. It was something he worked on every day, a task so meaningful he could commit to it completely and without guilt, knowing it served a greater good.
And so I ask you: what is your Notre-Dame? What is your Power Broker? What is your passion project — something bigger than yourself — something you dedicate yourself to, piece by piece, each day?
Ashley Elizabeth Miller 
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