More parish mergers, 5.1.2011

More parish "reconfigurations" were decreed, as linked here.
Mergers effective June 30, 2011:
1) St. John the Evangelist with St. Rocco.
2) Our Lady of Mercy with Our Lady of Presentation (which already absorbed Our Lady of Loreto)
3) Holy Family, Greenpoint, with St. Anthony of Padua (which already absorbed St. Alphonsus)
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Also, 13 parishes received warnings.  Please see the above link.

St. Mark, Sheepshead Bay

A quarter-mile north of the wharves of Sheepshead Bay, on Ocean Avenue from Jerome Avenue to Avenue Z, is the church of St. Mark, with a campanile benefiting its name.  The parish address is 2609 East 19th Street, Brooklyn NY 11235, telephone 718-891-3100, website linked here.
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A better photo is on Flickr, linked here.

Any photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.  St. Mark Catholic Academy is located at 2602 East 19th Street, Brooklyn NY 11235, telephone 1-718-332-9304.  

Rarely do Brooklyn parishes take up a full square block, but St. Mark's parish fills another block  west with school, auditorium, and parking.  This view looks west on Avenue Z towards the Sheepshead Bay subway station, and, further west, to the site of the parish's first two churches, each wooden and each unfortunately destroyed by fire (1891, 1929).   

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Brian Merlis, who has written numerous interesting books on Brooklyn history, treats of St. Mark's parish in his volume titled "Brooklyn's Gold Coast: The Sheepshead Bay Communities." 

St. Brendan, Midwood

The address of St. Brendan's parish 1525 East 12th Street, Brooklyn NY 11230, telephone 718-339-2828.  The parish website is linked HERE. There is a Saturday evening Mass and two on Sunday.  Each photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.

It appears that the religious education department shares the former St. Brendan's diocesan high school with one or other entities., one of them called New York League Early Learning - William O'Connor Midwood.  The school extends south on East 13th Street, has a 1912 cornerstone, and apparently received a fourth-story addition at some time. 
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Many thanks to MaryAnne for this clarification which led me to edit the above paragraph: 

"As an alumna, I wanted to point out that the building in the pic of the former St. Brendan's Elementary School was originally St. Brendan's Diocesan High School from 1922 to 1977.   

I think the original convent (Sisters of St. Joseph,  Brentwood) and the original elementary school (across Ave O) were torn down and turned into Senior Citizen housing when the High School closed.  But my memory may not be totally accurate on those buildings."  Your memory has been confirmed by another former parishioner.  The senior housing is where the elementary school was.

The above view looks north on East 13th Street towards Avenue O, where one may glimpse a small part of the Senior Citizen housing across the avenue.

St. Rose of Lima, Parkville

The rectory address for St. Rose of Lima parish is 269 Parkville Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11230, telephone 718-434-8040.  On Sundays, there are Masses in English, Spanish, Polish, Urdu, and at times in the Filipino language. Please see the bulletin page on the parish website.

The above view looks west on residential Parkville Avenue from East 8th Street towards Ocean Parkway. To the left of the church is new construction at a for-profit charter school which purchased or leased the parish school.  The construction is where the statue of St. Rose was in this 2006 photo on Flickr.  The statue, bearing the inscription in my photo above, is now to the front left of the church.  I remark how useful it is when people, as Betty Blake, use Flickr or other sites to post photos of their own neighborhoods.

View from Newkirk Avenue.  The cornerstone of the school reads 1892 and 1913.  Both church and former school extend  from Newkirk Avenue to Parkville Avenue.  The banner reads "Brooklyn Dreams Charter School, National Heritage Academies."

St. Matthew, Crown Heights

The parish of St. Matthew, Crown Heights, has three churches: St. Matthew on Eastern Parkway near Utica Avenue, St. Gregory the Great at Brooklyn Avenue and St. John's Place (that is, a mile west of St. Matthew), and Our Lady of Charity on Dean Street (that is, eight blocks north of St. Matthew).  The parish address is 1123 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn NY 11213, telephone 718-774-6747.
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The website of St. Gregory the Great elementary school is linked here.

My photos of the church of St. Gregory the Great are linked here.

Two more Catholic academies in Brooklyn

Please see Msgr. Harrington's announcement dated March 1, 2011, linked here.  It describes the creation of one Catholic academy in Queens and two in Brooklyn.  In Brooklyn, Salve Regina Catholic Academy (that is, elementary school) will be formed from the merger of three schools: St. Michael, St. Rita, and St. Sylvester. Salve Regina will use the St. Michael building at Jerome Street and Liberty Avenue, East New York.

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The East Flatbush merger concerns St. Catherine of Genoa school moving to St. Therese of Lisieux parish on Avenue D near Troy Avenue.  The combined elementary school will be named St. Catherine of Genoa - St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Academy. 

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The announcement from Msgr. Harrington does not provide current enrollment numbers for the Brooklyn mergers.

Divine Mercy, Williamsburg (triple merger)

Effective January 31, 2011, three parishes in Greenpoint and Williamsburg were canonically suppressed to create a single parish (Divine Mercy parish) with three "worship sites" or churches.  The parishes merged are St. Cecilia , St. Nicholas, and St. Francis of Paola.  An administrator, a parochial vicar (or assistant), and two deacons have been appointed to Divine Mercy, located at 219 Conselyea Street, Brooklyn NY 11211, telephone 718-387-0256.  The territory, assets and obligations of the three parishes were transferred to the new Divine Mercy Parish.
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Please see the parish website, linked HERE. 
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The March 6, 2011 parish bulletin from St. Francis of Paola church carries this declaration: One parish created in the heart of Divine Mercy to serve God's people in the Churches of  Saint Cecilia - Saint Francis of Paola - Saint Nicholas as a sign of Jesus' merciful love.
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The above photo shows the rectory (with a red awning) and church.  Most photos may be enlarged by clicking on them.

On the south side of Conselyea Street is a grotto.  In September, 2014, I received an e-mail with this wonderful explanation:

My name is Don Massetti, and my grandfather, Vito Abate, built the grotto at St. Francis of Paola over seventy-five years ago.  As a young boy, I lived on Engert Avenue between McGuinness Blvd. and Graham Avenue.  Recently, I was able to return to Brooklyn and revisit this very special place that I totally took for granted as a child.
THIS LINK connects to my blog, which tells the story of my grandfather, and how this most spectacular grotto came to be.  I promise you that you will find it to be a most interesting and very touching piece of St. Francis of Paola history.
It is my hope that one day, in lieu of a plaque meely stating his name, an inscription explaning that he single-handedly built this tribute to our Holy Queen, may take its place.  I don't now how to go about started on such a project, and was wondering if perhaps you can guide me to taking the proper channels.  
Thank you, and may God bless you.

West on Conselyea Street is the former parish school, now Francis of Paola Early Learning Center of the New York AHRC.  In the distance can be seen some of the many new apartment houses constructed in Williamsburg during the housing boom. 
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St. Nicholas parish was established in 1865, St. Cecilia in 1872, and St. Francis of Paola in 1918.
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Concerning the name Conselyea Street:  It seems that only two years before the English took New Amsterdam in 1664, Jan Conselje (Jean le Conseille) arrived and went to Bushwick.  Please see an explanation here.