SERVICES

Tuesday August 2, 2006

St. Brigid's Wins A Reprieve From The Wreckers

Demolition Starts Then Stops Thanks To A Judge's Stay

Demolition had started on St. Brigid's Church on Thursday July 27 before a judge granted a stay on Friday July 28. Pews, stain glass windows and other church furnishings were being removed from this hole at the rear of the church (James Higgins)

Activists in the East Village were horrified last Thursday morning as the news spread that demolition work had finally started on the historic St. Brigid's Church in the East Village area of Manhattan.

Confirming the worst, the Archdiocese of New York issued a terse statement that simply read, "Work began today to take down the former Saint Brigid's Church, which had become unsafe as a result of the rear wall of the building pulling away from the rest of the structure."

Meanwhile, as residents and others who've been fighting to save the historic landmark rushed to the site, demolition workers gutted the interior, vandalised the historic stained glass windows and used heavy equipment to start bringing down the walls.

The Archdiocese of New York decided to close the church in 2001 after it suffered serious structural damage, most notably a large crack in its north wall, though Church services continued in an adjacent school building.

Since the church closed, its 200 parishioners raised over $100,000 in hopes of restoring it to its former glory.

In 2004 the Archdiocese announced the closing of the entire parish causing uproar among the parishioners.

The Origins Of St. Brigid's Church In New York
By Seamus Kelleher Nestled in the heart of what is known as Alphabet city, the church, dedicated to "Mary of Gael," St. Brigid's was built in 1848-49 by Irish shipwrights at a time when Irish emigrants were flocking to America's shores to escape the ravages of the Great Hunger. Under its first pastor and founder, Father Kein, St. Brigid's created a community in America for the famine refugees and over the years it has played a similar role to successions of new Americans from around the world. It was also the center of the community that developed around the shipbuilding industry. At that time Alphabet City housed the largest dry dock in the country.
The architect of St. Brigid's was a man from Tipperary named Patrick Keely. During his career Keely designed over 600 churches and religious edifices in North America. St Brigid's may the oldest one still standing. The Gothic-style church has vaulted ceilings said to have been fashioned by shipbuilders as an upside-down boat. Sculpted faces, visible on the roof supports, are said to honor the actual shipwrights that built the church.

The Archdiocese also had plans to demolish the actual church or at least "repurpose" it.

The parishioners say they now believe that the Archdiocese had no intention of saving the church in the fist place.

As a result of the Archdiocese actions, the "Committee to Save St. Brigid's Church" was formed by the parishioners and other interested parties. They proposed that St. Brigid's be preserved as a landmark building with an active parish and that it be maintained by a working trust.

The Committee obtained a court order temporarily postponing the demolition of the church but a State Supreme Court judge dismissed their appeal last month.

Despite this judgement, the same judge, Justice Barbara R. Kapnick decided on Friday to halt the demolition work and set a date for further hearings for August 24th.

Her decision - which was not explained in her judgement - has given restored hope to activists. Harry Kresky, a lawyer for the "Committee to Save St. Brigid's Church" said "We have another shot to keep this church alive," but Joseph Zwilling, the spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York insisted that they were confident that the judge would allow the demolition to continue after she hears the arguments on both sides later this month.

(Parts of this story were adapted from an article by Seamus Kelleher that appeared in the May 31st issue )

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