In a tale of two churches that cast a huge question mark over the future of New York City’s historic houses of worship, the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) heard arguments on Tuesday to landmark one house of prayer and demolish the other.

Photo by Claude Solnik

In a tale of two churches that cast a huge question mark over the future of New York City’s historic houses of worship, the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) heard arguments on Tuesday to landmark one house of prayer and demolish the other.

The commission unanimously supported landmarking the Catholic Church of Saint Mary at 440 Grand St. on the Lower East Side, built in 1833 with a Romanesque Revival facade designed by prolific architect Patrick Charles Keeley in 1864. 

The nearly 20-member body also heard a hardship application to demolish the landmarked West Park Presbyterian Church at 165 West 86th St., an Upper West Side structure more than 130 years old that its owners say has become financially untenable to maintain.

St. Mary’s: A ‘spiritual and social beacon’

Richard Moses, president of the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative, called the Church of St. Mary “a landmark in the true sense of the word” and “a link to history in an ever-changing environment.” 

As the second oldest remaining Catholic church in New York City, Moses said, “The church clearly deserves landmark protection. St. Mary’s has great architectural significance due to its age, condition and design.”

Keeley, the church’s architect, designed nearly 600 churches during his career, but this would mark the first of his works to be landmarked in New York City. 

A spokeswoman for the Historic Districts Council called St. Mary’s “one of the earliest Catholic parishes in New York City,” one that has served immigrant communities for over a century beginning with the Irish.

Carolyn Ratcliffe, artistic director of the Art Loisaida Foundation, noted the church’s singular place in the city’s history. 

“This church has a totally unique history in New York City,” she said. “It has the first bell in a Catholic church in New York City, made in Ireland.” 

She added that Nathaniel Hawthorne’s daughter Rose Hawthorne converted to Catholicism there.

Preservationist Simeon Bankoff framed the case in broader terms. 

“How do you define churches?” he asked. “Is it the cultural meaning or the architecture that’s significant? The architecture embodies its cultural significance.”

Moses called St. Mary’s a “spiritual and social beacon to Irish immigrants in the early 19th century and today to Latino and other communities on the Lower East Side.” 

Martin Grubler, co-founder of Friends of the Lower East Side, pointed to a recent “multi-year restoration and renovation,” noting that “considerable funds were devoted to this effort, extending the useful life of this 1833 church into the 21st century.”

West Park: A landmark fighting for its life

The case for demolishing West Park Presbyterian proved far more contentious.

The congregation, which was landmarked over its own objections a decade ago, is seeking permission to tear down the structure, citing the “overwhelming cost of addressing serious and ongoing building maintenance.”

The LPC’s Frank Mahan pressed the church’s representatives on why neighboring landmarked buildings had found paths forward. 

He noted that St. Paul & St. Andrew United Methodist Church had recently secured a $5 million renovation grant, while another nearby landmark added condominiums to its rear.

“Two nearby buildings had different outcomes,” he said. “Why are those buildings different than yours?” 

Roger Leaf, chair of the West Park Administrative Commission, acknowledged the difference.

“I think the principal differences are the condition of the structure. The buildings are in better condition,” he said. “Our position is that the cost of restoring and maintaining the building far exceeds the resources of the church.”

Debby Hirshman, executive director of the Center at West Park — a nonprofit that operates out of the building — pushed back hard. 

She said the church was landmarked for its Romanesque architecture and its history as an early Civil Rights center, the birthplace of Joseph Papp’s Public Theater, and the founding site of God’s Love We Deliver, the nonprofit group that delivers prepared food to patients with serious illnesses such as HIV/AIDS and their loved ones.

“Those are just some of the key reasons,” she said.

Hirshman said the Center has $1.7 million in the bank and $11.6 million in committed funds through formal legal agreements. “There are funds available,” she said. “There were many paths the church might have taken.”

Leaf, in turn, pointed to the social need the church’s potential sale could address. 

“Our historic $30 million social justice fund will allow us to respond in meaningful ways to these urgent challenges,” he said, citing demand for food assistance, immigration support, housing help and senior services.

Attorney Valerie Campbell, representing the church, called hardship applications “quite rare and only filed as a last resort,” warning commissioners against setting “a precedent of denying a worthy application.”

The commission did not vote on the West Park application Tuesday. Both cases will continue to be deliberated in the weeks ahead.