St. John the Baptist, Hart Street near Lewis Avenue

I have yet to walk around the blocks where St. John's University and St. John's Prep began along both sides of Lewis Avenue. The large church of St. John the Baptist is to the east of Lewis Avenue. The neighboring parish of Our Lady of Good Counsel on Putnam Avenue has been merged into the parish of St. John the Baptist, one pastor covering worship at both churches. Two parish offices remain. Corrections and explanations are welcome.
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The website of the two parishes is linked here. The rectory address is 333 Hart Street, Brooklyn NY 11206, telephone 718-455-6864.
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Please also see my post and photos about Our Lady of Good Counsel.

Our Lady of Good Counsel, Putnam Ave.

The parish of Our Lady of Good Counsel is located at 915 Putnam Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11221, telephone 718-455-6864 The bishop has merged this parish with that of St. John the Baptist, a mile away on Lewis Avenue, and one pastor serves both churches. 

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The website of the combined parishes is linked here.  St. John the Baptist's phone number is 718-455-6864.

Along the north side of Putnam Avenue is the church, a garden (with a statue of Mary and an Ankh) and the parish office.  Behind the garden can be seen a parish building that faces Madison Street.

The above photos show the north side of Putnam Avenue.

The photos below show the south side of Madison Street, that is, behind the church.

At 800 Madison Street, a new corridor connects what appears to be two former elementary schools of the parish.  The building to the left (east) shows the date 1893.  I could not find a construction date on the building to the right. Presumably a convent was someplace here. Present use of the building is for some 70 apartments of "single room occupancy" with permanent tenants, possibly under the management of a division of Catholic Charities.

Any photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.

The property of this parish lies mid-block between Ralph Avenue and Patchen Avenue, named after Ralph Patchen, a farmer who owned 150 acres closer to the waterfront in the early 1800's.

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St. Benedict, Fulton Street

A reader favored me with an inquiry about St. Benedict, a German national parish which existed for 120 years (1853-1973) on the south side of Fulton Street west of Ralph Avenue.  When the church at 1916 Fulton Street was sold in 1973, it continued as a place of Christian worship, now the Mount Sinai Cathedral.  The parish school on Herkimer Street is now a Head Start Center.  
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Credit for information: Arcadia Book, "Brooklyn: The Brooklyn Daily Eagle post cards, 1902-1905."
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A photo of the church that was St. Benedict's appears on the Facebook page of Mt Sinai Cathedral, linked here.  It is an excellent photo and can be enlarged by clicking on it.
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Above is a view looking north from a train on Atlantic Avenue, taken in January, 2012.  The school faces Herkimer Street. The church faces Fulton Street. Any photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.

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Page 38 of "Diocese of Immigrants" has photos of eight German parishes, but not St. Benedict.
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The first pastor, Fr. Maurus Ramsauer, was a Benedictine.  

St. Martin de Porres, Bed-Stuy

In 2007, the bishop of Brooklyn created the parish of St. Martin de Porres by merging three parishes, Our Lady of Victory, St. Peter Claver, and Holy Rosary. The pastor and his assistant live at 583 Throop Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11216, telephone 718-574-5772.  The parish website, giving the address, Mass schedule, telephone, and e-mail of each of the three churches, is linked here. For insights into the pastor, staff, parishioners, and activities, I suggest you peruse the archive of weekly bulletins.

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Above is the shrine of St. Martin de Porres, to the left of the altar in Our Lady of Victory church, Throop Avenue.

On the northeast corner of Throop Avenue and MacDonough Street stands the magnificent church of Our Lady of Victory.  The parish was established in 1868, and this church, designed by Thomas F. Houghton,  was consecrated in 1893. Francis Morrone writes, "It is a strong Gothic church of Manhattan schist with highly contrasting limestone trim."

The above view looks south on Throop Avenue from Macon Street.  The rectory is at the left. Up Macon Street to the left is the convent of the Missionaries of Charity and the former parish school.

A single click on any photo will enlarge it.  Then the original size will also be offered.

The history and architecture of this parish and church are of great interest, but the faith and zeal of the congregants are the soul of the parish.

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At this link to Flickr, Emilio Guerra has provided two photos of Our Lady of Victory church.  He also provides a helpful text from the city's Landmark Commission.  Also, one might look at page 11 of this pdf document.

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More photos, history, and a description of the organ are provided at this link to the New York Organ project.

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Bus B43 (from Ebbets Field to Greenpoint) stops in front of the church. The southbound B43 uses Tompkins Avenue.  Nearby is the Kingston-Throop station of the C train under Fulton Street.

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A mile west of Our Lady of Victory church is that of St. Peter Claver.

On the southeast corner of Claver Place and Jefferson Avenue is the church of St. Peter Claver, now one of the three churches in the parish of St. Martin de Porres.  The address is 29 Claver Place, Brooklyn, NY 11238, telephone 718-622-4647.  For the Mass schedule, please see this link.

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The cornerstone is dated 1921.  Fulton Street is a short block to the right (south). Nearby is the busy subway station at Franklin Avenue and Fulton Street (C and S trains).

On the northeast corner is St. Peter Claver Institute, with a cornerstone dated 1931.  The parish and this institute have an amazing, impressive history.  A statue of St. Peter Claver and a slave is at the corner.  To the left, one door is marked Convent, another door is marked School.

In 2011, the Brooklyn Waldorf School leased this property for 49 years.  

Three blocks northwest, on the southeast corner of Madison Street and Classon Avenue, is the former church of Nativity parish.  In 1973, the bishop of Brooklyn merged that parish into St. Peter Claver.  Another Christian congregation purchased Nativity, according to this link. 

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Holy Rosary, at 139 Chauncey Street, Brooklyn NY 11233, is one of three worship sites for the parish of St. Martin de Porres, established in 2007.  Please see the parish website, linked here.

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Chauncey Street is one block north of the Utica Avenue station of the A and C subway lines beneath Fulton Street.  Walk one block north on Malcolm X Boulevard, turn west, and you will see the church.

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The parish was established in 1889.  The handsome brick church dates from 1894. Holy Rosary is the easternmost church of St. Martin de Porres parish, extending about 1.5 mile from St. Peter Claver to Holy Rosary, or approximately the east-west extent of the residential neighborhood Bedford-Stuyvesant.

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It seems that a campanile was removed after 1946.  On this website, please click on the photo.

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The June 26, 2019, issue of the Brooklyn Tablet has a lengthy report on Msgr. Quinn's sainthood cause, but in many paragraphs other important topics are touched on. Please see the article HERE.

Our Lady of the Presentation, Bedford-Stuyvesant

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Our Lady of Presentation - Our Lady of Mercy parish has a Facebook page linked HERE, as of August, 2016.  Its office address given by the diocese is 680 Mother Gaston Boulevard, Brooklyn NY 11212, at Our Lady of Mercy Church, telephone 718-345-2604. However, Our Lady of the Presentation church is also listed as 1677 St. Mark's Avenue.  
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A photo of Our Lady of the Presentation church is on Flickr, linked here.  It is an imposing structure on the north side of Eastern Parkway where Rockaway Avenue and St. Marks Avenue also meet.  
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Thanks to a correspondent wrote this explanation: 
"Actually Our Lady of the Presentation Church is in Bedford-Stuyvesant via zip code 11233. Brownsville's zip code is 11212. East New York's zip code is 11208. Historically though, the boundary of Brownsville had started at Eastern Parkway (the church is on the corner of St. Marks Avenue and Eastern Parkway). Now the northern boundary of Brownsville starts at East New York Avenue to coordinate with its 11212 zip code." 
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Effective 6.30.2011, a new parish was created, named Our Lady of the Presentation - Our Lady of Mercy.    
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Nearby Our Lady of Loreto parish was closed.

St Ambrose, Tompkins Ave.

On the southwest corner of Tompkins and DeKalb Avenues is Mt. Pisgah church and school, formerly the parish and school of St. Ambrose. About 1978, the congregation of St. Ambrose parish was moved into the smaller buildings of Our Lady of Monserrate, a few blocks south on Tompkins Avenue at Vernon Avenue. It seems that in January, 2008, that combined parish was itself handed over to All Saints, at Throop and Flushing Avenues.
For a discussion of the church building that was St. Ambrose, see this article from the Brownstoner and, more importantly, the comments below the article.
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North of St. Ambrose is the Brooklyn Triangle redevelopment zone, the subject of dispute as described (how accurately?) in this Daily News article of 11.26.2008.
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Men and women of the parish faithful appear on a marvelous website here, replete with pages and pages of photos. The Sisters of St. Joseph staffed the school for decades. St. Ambrose school closed in 1973, according to the diocesan website. Sadly, even the Baptist Mt. Pisgah Christian Academy shows weak numbers, with only fourteen students in 8th grade.



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