Church of the Nativity (Manhattan)

The Church of the Nativity is a former Catholic parish church in the Catholic Archdiocese of New York, located at 44 Second Avenue between Second and 3rd Streets in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was established in 1842.[3]

The Church of the Nativity
c.1865
General information
Architectural style1832 building:
Greek Revival
1970 building:
Modernist
Town or cityManhattan, New York City
CountryUS
Construction started1968 (for church)[1]
Completed1970[2]
Demolished1970[2]
Cost$240,000 (for 1968 church)[1]
ClientCatholic Archdiocese of New York
Design and construction
Architect1832 building:
Town & Davis
(Alexander Jackson Davis, J. H. Dakin, and James Gallier)[2]
1970 building:
Genovese & Maddalene[1]

History

Nativity parish was founded by Rev. Andrew Byrne. Byrne purchased the former Second Avenue Presbyterian Church, which was dedicated by Bishop John Hughes on June 5, 1842. Two years later, Byrne was named Bishop of Little Rock. George McCloskey was pastor for over twenty-years, until in 1869 he resigned to become vicar general for his brother, Bishop William McCloskey of Louisville.[3]

When St. John the Baptist Church on West 30th Street burned down in 1847, pastorship of St. John's parish was assumed by the Church of the Nativity until St. John's was rebuilt in 1851.[4] On January 20, 1912, a fire broke out at Nativity, destroying the "historic organ" and interior.[5]

In November 2014, the archdiocese announced that the Church of the Nativity was one of 31 of its parishes which would be merged with other parishes.[6] Nativity Parish was merged into Most Holy Redeemer Parish at 173 East 3rd Street and the church was being reduced to a mission church of the parish.[7]

The church was deconsecrated in June 2017.[8] It has been suggested by the current pastor of the combined parish that the Archdiocese of New York build low-income housing on the lot.[9]

Buildings
Church of the Nativity(Manhattan)
The current church

The original painted-timber Greek Revival sanctuary was built in 1832 at 48 Second Avenue[10] as the Second Avenue Presbyterian Church[11] and was designed by the prominent New York firm of Town & Davis, which then included Alexander Jackson Davis, J. H. Dakin, and James Gallier. It consisted of a Greek Doric portico and two-stage steeple.[2] In 1842, it was sold to the newly formed Nativity of Our Lord parish and became the Church of the Nativity.[11] It was demolished in 1970,[12] after a fire.

The present Modernist church was built at 44 Second Avenue from 1968[11] to 1970[2][12] for $240,000 to the designs of Genovese & Maddalene.[1] It has been described as "starkly institutional"[11] and "a modern architectural cartoon exhibiting a gross idea with no detail."[12]

The parish included within its territory the headquarters of the Catholic Worker Movement and was the site of the Funeral Mass of its co-founder, Dorothy Day, in December 1980.[13]

References

Notes

  1. Office for Metropolitan History, "Manhattan NB Database 1900-1986," (Accessed 25 Dec 2010).
  2. White, Norval; Willensky, Elliot; Leadon, Fran (2010). AIA Guide to New York City. American Institute of Architects New York Chapter (Fifth ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 202. ISBN 978-0-19-538386-7.
  3. Lafort, Remigius Lafort The Catholic Church in the United States of America: Undertaken to Celebrate the Golden Jubilee of His Holiness, Pope Pius X. Volume 3: The Province of Baltimore and the Province of New York, Section 1: Comprising the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn, Buffalo and Ogdensburg. New York City: The Catholic Editing Company, 1914. p.352.
  4. La Fort p. 338.
  5. "Church of the Nativity", NYC AGO
  6. Otterman, Sharon. "Tears and Heartache for New York’s Catholics as Cardinal Shuts Churches" The New York Times (November 2, 2014)
  7. "List of Merging Churches and Those That Will Cease Regular Services" The New York Times (November 2, 2014)
  8. Dolan, Timothy Michael (June 30, 2017) "Decree on the Relegation of the Church of Nativity in the Parish of Most Holy Redeemer-Nativity, New York" Office of the Cardinal, Archdiocese of New York
  9. Zimmer, Amy (July 26, 2017) "A Dozen Church Properties Deconsecrated by Archdiocese for Potential Sale" Archived 2017-08-22 at the Wayback Machine DNAinfo
  10. The World Almanac 1892 and Book of Facts (New York: Press Publishing, 1892), p.390.
  11. Dunlap, David W. (2004). From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-12543-7., p.156
  12. White, Norval & Willensky, Elliot (2000). AIA Guide to New York City (4th ed.). New York: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 978-0-8129-3107-5., p.170
  13. Gnuhs, Geoffrey P., O.P. (January 1981). "Eulogy at the Funeral of Dorothy Day". The Catholic Worker.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.