50 Oldest Church of NYC: Saint Ann’s Armenian Catholic Cathedral

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The parish of Saint Ann’s Shrine Armenian Catholic Cathedral (120 East 12th Street, Manhattan, New York), was  was organized in 1852 by Bishop Hughes, who appointed Reverend John Murray Forbes to be its first pastor.

Father Forbes purchased the former Third Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church on East 8th Street, between Broadway and Fourth Avenue. The impressive Georgian-style building had been constructed in 1811-12 on Murray Street, but when real estate grew more valuable, the Presbyterians sold the site and moved the building to 8th Street at the head of Lafayette Place in 1842. After St. Ann’s congregation vacated the edifice in 1871, the building was used as an upholstery factory and, starting in 1879, a succession of theaters until it was razed in 1904 for construction of the subway.

Sometime around 1870, St. Ann’s purchased the former Temple Emanu-El on East 12th Street, between Third and Fourth Avenues, which had been built in 1847 as the Twelfth Street Baptist Church. Before the Catholic congregation moved in, architect Napoleon Le Brun created a new church in the 13th century French Gothic style, retaining only the original facade. The new church was dedicated in 1871. Stained glass windows were added in the 1920s.

Cardinal Terence Cooke of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York offered St. Ann’s Church on the Lower East Side of Manhattan for use as the Armenian Catholic Cathedral. The offer was accepted and St. Ann’s Cathedral was established in 1983.

In 2002, Cardinal Edward Egan requested that the exarchate surrender the facilities at St. Ann’s. Attempts were made to save the cathedral, but in the end they had no choice but to vacate the building. It was closed in 2005. The property was sold to NYU and a dormitory now occupies the site. The front facade and tower of the former church remain, but the bulk of the building was demolished. Leaving the facade, like a Hollywood stage prop to decorate the front of the modern NYU Dorm building.

50 Oldest Churches of NYC: Marble Collegiate Church

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The Marble Collegiate Church, founded in 1628, is one of the oldest continuous Protestant congregations in North America.Located at 272 Fifth Avenue at the corner of West 29th Street New York, New York.

It was built in 1851–54 and was designed by Samuel A. Warner in Romanesque Revival style with Gothic trim. Originally called the Fifth Avenue Church, it was renamed in 1906 for its facade of Tuckahoe marble.

The church congregation was founded in 1628 as the Collegiate Reformed Protestant Dutch Church and was affiliated with the Dutch Reformed Church, a Calvinist church in the Netherlands. During its first 150 years, Marble shared its ministers with the other Collegiate congregations as they developed in the city. This pooling of pastoral ministry was abandoned in 1871.

Norman Vincent Peale, the noted author of The Power of Positive Thinking, served as senior minister from 1932 to 1984. Under Peale’s ministry Marble’s influence reached national levels and it became known as “America’s Hometown Church”. On November 19, 1961, actress and comedian, Lucille Ball married her second husband Gary Morton in the church.

The church takes an LGBT-welcoming, open and affirming approach to same-gender relationships and non-cisgender identities. This includes the performing of same-sex marriage ceremonies, a designated queer fellowship (GIFTS), annual participation in the NYC Pride parade.

The building was designated a New York City landmark in 1967, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

50 Oldest Churches of NYC: Holy Cross Church

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Holy Cross Church is a Roman Catholic church located at 329 West 42nd Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, near Times Square and across the street from the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

The Holy Cross Parish was established in 1852 and a chapel erected, which the congregation quickly outgrew. In 1854, a new building was constructed and dedicated, but lightning struck this second structure in 1867, and the ensuing fire severely damaged it.

The current church was constructed to a design by Henry Engelbert on the site of the damaged building and completed in 1870. This church is notable as the oldest building on 42nd Street.

The exterior of Holy Cross Church shows a red brick facade with flanking twin towers in an Italianate Gothic form.

Louis Comfort Tiffany designed the mosaics below the dome and in the sanctuary. Tiffany also designed the stained glass of the clerestory windows and wheel windows of the transepts.

Mass is celebrated in both English- and Spanish-language services. Holy Cross Church operates Crossroads Food Pantry, a food kitchen serving the poor and hungry.

The church houses an Aeolian-Skinner organ, which is located in the rear gallery in the choir loft. Installed in 1933 and completed in 1941 with the addition of a set of chimes. It replaced an organ built in 1882 by J.H. & C.S. Odell. The earliest organ, which had been built by Hall and Labagh in 1854, was destroyed in the fire of 1867.

Holy Cross Church is sometimes known informally as “Father Duffy’s Church”, after the Reverend Francis P. Duffy. Duffy served as Chaplain of the “Fighting Irish” 69th New York Regiment during World War I, and was decorated for his activities. This is fascinating to me since My great grandfather John HIckey fought with the 69th New York “Fighting Irish” regiment during the Civil War many years prior. He fought at Bull Run, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, and Petersburg.  Joseph Corr died in 1880 and his wife was denied a military pension.

After WWI, in 1921, Francis P. Duffy was appointed Rector of Holy Cross. Later elevated to Pastor, Father Duffy served the church until his death in 1932.

 

50 Oldest Churches of NYC: Calvary Church

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Calvary Church is an Episcopal church located at 277 Park Avenue South on the corner of East 21st Street in the Gramercy Park neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, on the border of the Flatiron District. It was designed by James Renwick Jr., the architect who designed in a gothic revival style in 1848. Renwick also designed St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Grace Church in NYC. Calvary is constructed of brownstone.

The Calvary Church parish was founded in 1832, and initially used a wooden-frame church on what was then Fourth Avenue – which has since become Park Avenue – uptown of its current site. In 1867 there were two large wooden towers that rose from the front facade but today only the octagonal bases remain. The church’s two wooden spires were removed in September 1860 when they became unstable.

The church complex also includes the nine-story Calvary House, east of the church on Gramercy Park North (East 21st Street), also designed by Renwick, and built in 1867. Calvary House is now rented out as offices.

The “Renwick Gem” Schoolhouse, is a small building to the north of the church which was built as a theatre but used for that purpose only for a short time before being utilized for the Calvary Church Sunday school. It has a large interior space, about 27 feet (8.2 m) between the columns, which were designed to hold up the heavy slate roof without the use of exterior buttresses.

The family of Theodore Roosevelt lived two blocks away from Calvary Church from 1854 to 1872 and Calvary was the church the family belonged to. Other congregants included members of the Astor and Vanderbilt families. some of the richest families of the gilded age.

In 1976, facing financial difficulty, Calvary parish merged with the nearby parishes of St. George’s Church and the Church of the Holy Communion. The Holy Communion buildings were de-consecrated and sold to pay down the debts of the new combined parish, eventually becoming the Limelight disco, and the remaining two churches were able to remain afloat. During the early days of New York’s 2020 COVID-19 lockdown, New York Post reported on the church’s bells, which played “Amazing Grace” and other hymns four times a day.

Evolution of a Poster: Much Ado About Nothing

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William Shakespeare‘s Much Ado About Nothing opens tonight, March 9, 2022 at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater and runs through April 2, 2022. Tickets range from $22 to $33.

Orlando Shakes no longer requires a negative COVID-19 test result to attend performances or special events. Guests 5 years of age and older are encouraged, but not required, to wear a face mask when inside the building. More info at orlandoshakes.org/safety.

“When I said I would die a bachelor, I did not think I should live till I were married.” Lies and deceit threaten to bring lovers together or tear them apart in Shakespeare’s sharp-tongued romcom.Love’s in the air when Don Pedro’s army, including Claudio and Benedick, returns victorious from war. Claudio must navigate the passions and jealousies of courting when he falls smitten for the beautiful Hero. Meanwhile, their friends devise a scheme to spark a romance between the confirmed bachelor Benedick and his long-time adversary, Beatrice.

The effort to paint and design the poster for the show was an epic journey as well. My first pass at the poster focused only on Beatrice. I had her in a mask and looking mysterious and beautiful. At least that was my intent.I set the scene in the masked ball and had her masked as well. The title treatment seemed a bit weak to start so I knew I needed to beef that up as I worked on future designs.

Since the show is about secrets and deceit, I realized a whisper might be the verb that set the tone for the final image. I decided I should uncover her face so that I could focus on her expression. I was pushed in for an extreme close up and decided to pull back a bit for the next version. Her expression wasn’t as strong as it could be as well, so I decided to rework her. By pulling back away from the couple I could focus on their hand gestures as well and that is when I added her hand to the scene. Once the title was re-worked, I felt that a garden spiraling design over the type helped in the arching effect I wanted for the top of the poster. I got to play with the mirroring feature in my painting program for the first time and it made creating and refining the curling forms a pleasure.

Getting her hand in the poster helped sell the shocked expression. I tried putting her mask back on but again it detracted for seeing her shocked expression. I also reworked the title which was now working much better. Another thing I started to do was think about adding a cracked surface to the painting to make the image appear like an older painting.

 

50 Oldest Churches of NYC: Church of Saint Joseph in Greenwich Village

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The Church of St. Joseph in Greenwich Village is a Roman Catholic parish church located at 365 Sixth Avenue at the corner of Washington Place in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Being  constructed in 1833–1834, it is the oldest church in New York City specifically built to be a Roman Catholic sanctuary.

St. Joseph’s Parish was founded by Bishop John Dubois in 1829. At the time St. Joseph’s Parish began, the population of New York, numbering 203,000, was concentrated in the southern half of Manhattan. Early church records indicate that St. Joseph’s first congregants were predominantly Irish-Americans.

After several years in a rented hall at Grove and Christopher Streets, the cornerstone of the present church was laid on June 10, 1833. The church was designed by John Doran in the Greek Revival style, but it has been extensively renovated over the years. Two fires, one in 1855 and the other in 1885, caused extensive damage to the interior. Renovations after the second fire were supervised by Arthur Crooks. The interior of the church was restored in 1972. At the time, a fresco of the Transfiguration, after Raphael’s original in the Vatican, was discovered under layers of paint and restored. Structural restoration work was performed in 1991–1992.

50 Oldest Churches of NYC: Saint Peter’s Church

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When America was a colony under English rule, Catholic worship was prohibited.  Following the Revolutionary War, New York City served as a temporary capital of the newly independent United States.  This prominence brought many foreign ambassadors and businessmen to the city, some of whom were Catholic, including several members of Congress. A small group of city residents began to attend Mass privately at the home of the ambassador of Spain.

The Catholics of New York made a formal request to the Common Council of New York City for a suitable piece of land which the Catholic congregation could lease as the site for its church. The Protestant Corporation of Trinity Church, stated that three lots belonging to “the Farm of Trinity Church”  permitted several leases to be transferred to the trustees of Saint Peter’s Church.

The Catholic congregation eventually leased five lots from Trinity Church at the corner of Barclay and Church streets. The cornerstone was laid on October 5, 1785. In the cornerstone are Spanish coins minted during the reign of King Charles III of Spain.

By the Spring of 1786, with the help of donations such as one thousand silver dollars from King Charles III of Spain, the congregation had collected enough money to begin construction.  On November 4, 1786, a Solemn High Mass was offered in the new church.

 The first pastor needed to know six languages spoken by the eclectic congregation, namely English, French, Dutch (i.e. German), Spanish, Portuguese and Irish.

Saint Peter’s struggled in the beginning, and in 1792, the Corporation of Trinity Church voted to cancel part of the back rent which St Peter’s owed. Three years later, with St Peter’s still in debt, Trinity Church again came to the aid of the struggling parish when it cancelled back rents and transferred ownership of the land to the trustees of St Peter’s for the sum of one thousand pounds.

Despite the large growth of the congregation in the 1830’s, the neighborhood was changing from a residential to a business district. Homes gave way to stores, and stores to tall office buildings. The ethnic background of the parishioners reflected changing patterns of immigration. The  congregation of St. Peter’s, in the 1830s consisted of some 25,000 souls, most of them Irish. The congregation gradually dwindled to 7,000 of twenty nationalities, most of them Polish Ruthenian.”

Then, after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, both St Peter’s and her chapel, St Joseph’s in Battery Park City, were used as staging grounds for rescue and recovery operations. “We were the first place they were bringing all the emergency equipment. Everything was in disarray,” then-pastor Kevin Madigan stated. “Supplies were piled six feet high all over the pews, bandages, gas masks, boots, hoses and cans of food for the workers and the volunteers, many of whom were sleeping in the pews on bedrolls.”  The Church celebrated Masses occasionally, but only for the rescue workers and those few others with credentials to enter the area.

 The world-recognized World Trade Center Cross, a sign of hope for all the world to see in the wreckage of the buildings, was displayed outside St Peter’s on Church Street until it was moved to the 9/11 Memorial. A new custom cross, commissioned to stand in its place, was installed on August 11, 2011 to represent the resurrection of the neighborhood.

50 Oldest Churches of NYC: Saint Peter’s Church

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I started sketching churches in New York City largely because I was researching my family’s history in New York. My grandmother Josephine Hickey was baptized at Saint Peter’s Church on September 13, 1891. The Hickey family loved just a few blocks away at 143 Washington Street which is today at the south end of the World Trade Center Memorial site. The building no longer stands.

St Peter’s Church was founded five years before the establishment of the present day United States government. It was the first Roman Catholic parish in New York, established in 1785 on the site it now occupies. The original church was built only two years after the end of the American Revolution. Old St Peter’s Church was used for worship until 1836 when a portion of the ceiling gave way and the parish made plans to build a new and larger place of worship. By this time, the congregation of St Peter’s had grown so large that some of the parishioners who came to hear Mass had to stand outside..

The present church exterior was completed in 1840 and was ultimately declared a landmark by Federal, State and City agencies.

 

50 Oldest Churches of NYC: Plymouth Church

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Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims located at 57 Orange Street between Henry and Hicks Streets in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City was built in 1849–50 and was designed by Joseph C. Wells. It is an example of 19th century urban tabernacle architecture

It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1961, and has been a National Historic Landmark since 1966. It is part of the Brooklyn Heights Historic District, created by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1965.

Under the leadership of its first minister, Henry Ward Beecher, it became the foremost center of anti-slavery sentiment in the mid-19th century. His sister was Harriet Beecher Stowe, noted today as the author of the anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) that “helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War.

The church itself became an important station on the Underground Railroad through which slaves from the South were secretly transported to Canada. Locally known as “the Grand Central Depot,” slaves were hidden in the tunnel-like basement beneath the church sanctuary.

One recurring event that garnered considerable public attention was Beecher’s mock slave auctions. Beecher would bring slaves into the sanctuary, auction them off to the highest bidder, and then set them free.  The most famous case involved “Pinky“, a 9-year-old slave girl who had escaped from Alabama. On February 5, 1860, in front of a crowd of 3000, Mr. Beecher started the bidding and a collection plate was passed around the congregation. When the plate with $900 and a golden ring reached the pulpit, Beecher picked up the ring and placed it on the finger of Pinky, exclaiming,  “Remember, with this ring I do wed thee to freedom.” Sixty-seven years later, Pinky returned to Plymouth, now a well-educated woman, named Mrs. Rose Ward Hunt, and returned the ring Beecher had given to her.

The church offered Abraham Lincoln $200 to come to Brooklyn and giving a lecture to the congregation. Lincoln accepted the invitation, traveled to Brooklyn and participated in the church service on Sunday, February 26 1859. Today a plaque marks the pew where Lincoln attended the service. Because of high demand, Lincoln’s address was moved to Cooper Union, where a 25 cents admission fee was charged. Lincoln gave his famous anti-slavery speech before a capacity crowd of 1,500 on February 27, 1860, more than eight months before he was elected President.

50 Oldest Churches of NYC: Son Rise

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The Son Rise Charismatic Interfaith Church, (2000 Richmond Avenue, Staten Island, New York) formerly the First Asbury Methodist Church was first built in 1849 and was remodeled in 1978. It was designated a landmark of New York City on March 19, 1968.

This Federal Style Church designed by an unknown architect, was initially named after Bishop Francis Asbury, a Methodist preacher who first came to Staten Island in 1771. He was the first two bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. Over 41 years his congregation grew from 500 members to over 200,000 members. He traveled on horseback and by carriage thousands of miles to those living on the frontier.

The First Asbury Methodist Church first known as the North End Church was constructed in 1802 near the site of the present building. It was demolished in 1850. The side walls of the present building are said to date back to 1849. Some headstones in the cemetery date back to 1813. Ichabod Crane is buried there. Johnathan Irving borrowed his name for his short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.”