Saturday, April 19, 2014

North Brooklyn Catholic

The Greenpoint News has run a story on the coordinated efforts of fifteen Catholic churches of Greenpoint and Williamsburg.  The geographic boundaries of parishes used to be much more important in our cities, so it is encouraging to see this combined work. The article link is below:
http://www.greenpointnews.com/news/6095/once-competitors-north-brooklyn-s-catholics-churches-unite-to-draw-new-congregants
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Please also see
http://northbrooklyncatholic.org
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I note 42 celebrations of Sunday worship on a chronological list.  Years ago, I saw the same sort of coordination in Avila, Spain, to help people find a Sunday Mass at a certain hour, the complete list of all celebrations posted on a placard outside each church.
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Also, please see the active Facebook page, "North Brooklyn Catholic," linked HERE.



Friday, April 18, 2014

Greenpoint schools into apartments

Two articles have appeared concerning the lease of Catholic schools in Greenpoint to developers who are turning them into apartments.  These two articles are of interest:
From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle of 4.16.2014, "Rescue Me: Shuttered Greenpoint Catholic Schools are Resurrected as Apartment Houses."
and 
from Curbed NY of 4.17.2014, "Losing Our Religion: Shuttered Greenpoint Catholic Schools to Become Housing."
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These news stories involve St. Cecilia and the parish of Sts. Cyril and Methodius.
What is revealing is the account of corporations-behind-corporations.  Also, I note that St. Cecilia's school may still be owned by the diocese or parish but merely leased for 49 years.  I wonder whether Rocklyn Asset Corporation is involved in this deal.
Also, please see this blog's posts on the two parishes:
St. Cecilia
and Sts. Cyril and Methodius.
The church of Sts. Cyril and Methodius are east of Manhattan Avenue.  The former school is west of Manhattan Avenue.

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Bishop Ford HS to close

Sad to report, but Bishop Ford HS, with an enrollment of 499, will close in June.  Please see the announcement here.
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My post and photos from 2009 are below.




Bishop Ford Central Catholic High School is located at 500 Nineteenth Street, Brooklyn NY 11215, telephone 718-360-2500. Its website is linked here.


The principal entrances of the school are along Nineteenth Street, indicated by the activities entrance on the right, and the academic entrance underneath the cross, as shown in the second photo.
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A helpful correspondent has explained: "The Franciscan Brothers Residence was the top floor of Bishop Ford. They now occupy a smaller section with their own chapel on their floor. The other space is used for the school ."
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The Prospect Expressway (NY 27) parallels Nineteenth Street. When the bishop of Brooklyn announced the construction of several diocesan high schools about 1960, suitable property was scarce. In this case, a streetcar barn took up the entire block now used by Bishop Ford High School. These streets border the school: on the northeast, Fifteenth Street, seen above; on the southeast Tenth Avenue, marked in the above photo by the tall transmitter of the diocesan television station; on the southwest Twentieth Street and Green-Wood Cemetery, and on the northwest Prospect Park West.



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