St. Fortunata, East New York

St. Fortunata church stands on Crescent Street at the intersection with Linden Boulevard.  Its postal address is 2609 Linden Boulevard, Brooklyn NY 11208, telephone 718-647-2632.  The large school buildings take up much of the block to the east, but they now house a charter school.  St. Fortunata parish was established in 1934, and the school closed in 2008.  On January 31, 2013, the pastor here also became administrator of St. Sylvester parish, a mile north.
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The parish website is linked HERE.

Blessed Sacrament, Euclid Avenue, Cypress Hills

As one rides the J train from Jamaica to the Williamsburg Bridge, so many steeples are seen that it is difficult to name them. The train crosses an invisible border from Queens to Brooklyn and stops at Crescent Street, Brooklyn, on an old section of the Fulton Street el. This photo of Blessed Sacrament parish is taken from the train platform.
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The mailing address for Blessed Sacrament parish is 198 Euclid Ave., Brooklyn NY 11208, telephone 718-827-1200. The parish website is linked HERE.
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The parish school is at 187 Euclid Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11208. The school telephone is 718-235-4863.  Its website is linked here.

The parish school is accredited by the Middle States Association (Middle States Commission on Elementary Schools).

I note the trilingual sign above: Latin, English, Spanish.

Clicking on any photo will enlarge it.

Is that St. Francis at the rectory door?

"Our church is open all day. Venid y adoremos." As I have observed at other unlocked churches in Brooklyn, worshipers visit the church often. I have seldom found an empty church.
The parish bulletin is one of the friendliest and most welcoming that I have seen.

This 1891 cornerstone may have been removed from the old church when the present church was dedicated in 1912.  Please see the helpful narrative of parish history linked here.  Also see the excellent account given here on McNamara's blog.
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Please note that there is a link to Comments at the top of this post.  A new and much appreciated comment was received 2.13.2011.
Please note this admirable website, the East New York Project, with pages and pages of photos and commentary, found by using the zone tabs across the top.

St. Rita, Shepherd Avenue, City Line

St. Rita's church, school, and rectory are located on Shepherd Avenue, just south of Atlantic Avenue, in City Line, Brooklyn. The parish address is 275 Shepherd Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11208, telephone 718-647-4910. The parish website is linked here, but it appears out-of-date. The term "City Line" derives from the border of the City of Brooklyn, prior to the creation of Greater New York in 1898.
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You may click on any photo to enlarge it. To revert to the blog entry, return to the previous page.

St. Rita's church is beautiful with the light and colors of the stained glass windows. The Stations and some of the bas-reliefs appear to be ceramics.

Looking north on Shepherd Avenue, where traffic is one-way southbound.

Pedestrians are free to approach Shepherd Avenue from any direction, but automobiles must travel east on Atlantic Avenue and turn south onto Shepherd. The above photo shows the helpful and clear sign at the corner where one turns.


The above photo, snapped in front of the church, looks north on Shepherd Avenue. This building is the former parish school.  In 2011, this school was merged into the new Salve Regina Catholic Academy,  located at Jerome Street and Liberty Avenue.

The window over the choir loft shows St. Rita of Cascia, 1381-1457. She was canonized on May 24, 1900, together with John Baptist de la Salle, a two-fer ceremony. Soon afterwards, parishes under St. Rita's patronage for established in The Bronx and here in Brooklyn.
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St. Rita's has a page on the East New York project linked here. The creator of that project deserves praise for his work putting together stories and photos of life in East New York and adjacent neighborhoods.



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St. Sylvester, City Line

The address of the church of Saint Sylvester is 416 Grant Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11208, telephone 718-647-1995.  It seems that since 2013, the pastor of St. Fortunata parish has administered St. Sylvester's. Each parish has a new website produced by the diocese: St. Sylvester and St. Fortunata. The churches are a mile apart.

The church property, fenced and with well-maintained landscaping, extends along the north side of McKinley Avenue, City Line, from Eldert Lane to Grant Avenue. Here is the main entrance on McKinley Avenue. Ahead is Grant Avenue with the rectory across the street.
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The neighborhood term, City Line, dates from the era when Brooklyn was a city, not a mere borough. If Brooklyn were a city today, it would rank as #4 in population of U. S. cities!

The former school is on the west side of the street, at 396 Grant Avenue. The school was merged into Salve Regina Catholic Academy, a mile to the west.

Above is the parish rectory at 416 Grant Avenue, facing the church.