St. Patrick, Kent Avenue, demolished

In early January of 2024, wrecking crews attacked the church of St. Patrick on Kent Avenue, corner of Willoughby Avenue. Please see the article on the BKReader linked here. The church, designed by Patrick Keely, was built in 1856. Even after the merger with St. Lucy  parish, it apparently had low attendance. The diocese of Brooklyn or one of its entities received $9,250,000 from the sale. Adjacent lots added to that price.

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An article in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle of November 5 1854, describes the laying of the cornerstone. The article gives the architect's name as James J. Lyons.

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Also see a Patch article HERE.

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Please see more of my posts about this church on Kent Avenue. They are linked HERE.

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It seems that the closest Catholic church with daily Mass is Sacred Heart at 32 Clermont Avenue, a mile northwest of St. Patrick's. See Mass schedule.

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As to what will be built on the northwest corner, replacing the demolished church: maybe apartments similar to those on the northeast corner, with provisions for sukkah or sukkot.

St. Patrick, Kent Ave., for sale

Usually, it is easy to find diocesan decrees on a website, but in this case I can only refer to a July 18, 2022, Tablet article behind a registration wall HERE.

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In 1856, the renowned architect Patrick Keely built St. Patrick's church on the northwest corner of Kent Avenue and Willoughby Avenue. In 2010, the nearby parish of St. Lucy was merged into it. Now, the church is falling down, and in June the Bishop decreed its sale. Among the several reasons for my guess that the buyer will demolish it is the growing Hasidic community nearby.

Please refer to my older post.

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.

3.21.2014 Symposium on Patrick Keely

I am grateful to a correspondent who has directed me to this notice of a symposium on March 21, 2014:

For the work of Mr. Keely, please see Keely on the label list to the right.  Also, see this 1896 obituary posted by the historian Patrick McNamara here.

St. Vincent de Paul, Williamsburg

This post concerns the sale and conversion of three properties of the former parish of St. Vincent de Paul running through from North 6th Street to North 7th Street, Williamsburg.  To the west is Bedford Avenue, with a thronged subway station of the L train.  To the east is Driggs Avenue, with a secondary entrance to the same station.  The photos and narrative are generally in reverse chronological order.  The church was designed by Patrick Keely and dedicated on October 17, 1869, according to several sources, including a report by Fr. Sylvester Malone printed in the Brooklyn Eagle of October 12, 1890.
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It seems that in 2014 lodging in the church was in the form of rental apartments.  The February 12, 2015, issue of Time Out New York has a quarter page story of an actual renter, under the title "Property peep show: Cathedral condo."  I have not been able t find a link to the article and its photos.
Back on May 28, 2014, ny.curbed.com ran a story, linked here.
The Awl on June 30, 2014, ran this critique.

The former rectory has been converted to apartments and is inhabited.

The above photo shows new construction at the north end (apex) of the church.  Acqua Santa restaurant, at 556 Driggs Avenue, is not part of the property.

Clicking on any photo will enlarge it.  The 49th Street address given for the owner is a mailbox store in Borough Park. It would appear that one project, conversion of the rectory into apartments, is complete.  The conversion of the church is under way, and the drawing in the above photo details the preservation of the facade on North 6th Street.  The skylights in the church roof seem new. Some work has been done on the former school on North Seventh Street, but there appears to be a hiatus in renovation.  Entrances to the Bedford Avenue subway station are only a half-block away.

The next two photos were taken in 2012.

The above photos, taken April 4, 2012, may be enlarged by clicking on each.  Obviously, the buyer of the St. Vincent de Paul property has moved quickly towards gutting and some demolition.  The top photo looks from North 6th Street towards the parish school on North 7th Street, a 1950's building vacant for a few years.  The second building seems to indicate that the senior center used by Catholic Charities, perhaps a former convent, was not sold.  (Yes? No?)  The third photo shows the gutted rectory.
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(Update, October, 2012: I much appreciate this comment from Howard Weber:
The Catholic Charities building referred to as a former convent was actually at one time the residence (friary) of the Franciscan Brothers who staffed St. Francis Prep at 186 North 6th Street ( across the street from St Vincent De Paul) from 1952-1974.

If you look at the cornerstone of that it would appear it was built expressly for that purpose.)

(Update, August, 2013: I much appreciate this comment from Terri White:
I believe that the school located on North 7th street was actually built in the 1960's as I was in the first graduating class in 1969. The original school was on Driggs Avenue and North 6th street and was adjacent to the original St Francis Prep boys high school which is now Boricua College. The convent was also adjacent to St Francis prep on north 6th street just before the row of houses. Terri White.)

A friend mailed me a clipping from the Greenline newspaper, dated March 1-31, 2012, page 4, with the headline, "St. Vincent de Paul Church to Become Apts.; Historic Edifice Will Remain Intact."  The developer The North Flats, according to the story, has applied to the Buildings Department to turn the church into 33 apartments, and the parish house into ten apartments.  The adjacent vacant school on North 7th Street and the parking lot were also part of the purchase.  Please read the notes below in view of this latest news.  I must note that there are similarities with the conversion of the buildings of St. Peter's parish some years ago (at Warren and Hicks Streets, Cobble Hill).
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On December 6, 2011, the Brooklyn Paper linked here reported that the church of St. Vincent de Paul has been sold to a developer.  In recent days, the diocese has removed the bell and stained glass windows for storage in East New York.  The article is not clear about the other buildings adjacent to the church, to the left in the photo below and the school on the adjoining block behind.  It says that zoning restricts development to residential buildings no taller than fifty feet.
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On December 20, 2011, BrooklynEagle.com reported here that the sale price was $13.7 million and the size of the property 37,500 square feet (0.86 acre).  The buyer "plans a new residential project."
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On April 4, 2011, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio issued a decree linked here, stating that the parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel could no longer afford to maintain the church of St. Vincent de Paul on North 6th Street and that said church could be sold for profane use after June 30, 2011, except for sordid purposes.
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The photos below date from March, 2010.

For a few years, Armenian Catholics used this church and rectory.  Please see the link here. The ecclesiastical jurisdiction is the Armenian Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Nareg.

This 1960's school on North 6th Street (photo of March 2010) was in the process of being gutted when I saw the shovel and dump trucks at work 4.5.2012.  Queen of the Rosary Catholic Academy has superseded Northside Catholic Academy.  In November, 2013, scaffolding and some debris obscured this side of the building.

St. Paul and St. Agnes, Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens

Over the course of decades, the Diocese of Brooklyn has merged several parishes in South Brooklyn (older designation) or Cobble Hill (newer designation) and Carroll Gardens.  In 2011, two churches and two offices are open, but the combined parish of St. Peter and St. Agnes is a single parish, its informative website newly created and linked here.  



Any photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.



The residence of the administrator and the morning office address is 234 Congress Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201. The above photos are taken along Congress St.  The second photo shows Congress Street eastward towards busy Court St.
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The parish now carries the name of St. Paul and St. Agnes, and its website is linked here. The afternoon office and parish hall is at 433 Sackett Street, Brooklyn NY 11231, telephone 718-625-1717, adjacent to St. Agnes church.
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From the AIA Guide, it would seem that much of St. Paul's church at Court and Congress Streets was designed and built about 1838 by Gamaliel King, allowing the claim that this church is the oldest Catholic church in continuous use in Brooklyn. The steeple was added in the 1860's, and other enlargements were made. The church fronts on Court Street, the chapel and former rectory on Congress Street. For a while, the parish had three names: St. Peter (from the church on Hicks Street that is now a condo), Our Lady of Pilar, and St. Paul. The signs now name it as the parish of St. Peter and St. Agnes, with services alternating between the two church buildings.


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St. Paul's parish school at 205 Warren Street closed in 1973. A good friend of mine is recalls with gratitude the education she received there in the early 1940's.
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Above, looking east on Sackett Street, Carroll Gardens, we see St. Agnes Church at the intersection of Hoyt Street. Clicking on any photo enlarges it.
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Thomas F. Houghton was the architect for the design of this church when it was built in 1905. Houghton, who lived 1842-1913, was the son-in-law of the famous church-builder Patrick Keely. Keely designed the older church building here. The present church was built in 1905 to replace the earlier church that burned in 1901. An account of the fire is here.

The above view looks west on Sackett Street.

Presumably, the above statue represents St. Agnes, a young virgin-martyr in Rome about the year 300.


John Loughlin, Bishop of Brooklyn, established the parish of St. Agnes in 1878, when this neighborhood was probably thought of as Brooklyn or South Brooklyn. The name Carroll Gardens is relatively new, promoted in a successful attempt to sell homes at higher prices. The magnificence of this 1905 church and of the nearby houses may show that the neighborhood was already a good place, near the busy ports and industries of Erie Basin and the Gowanus Canal. About 2008, the parish was combined with that of St. Paul (from which it was sliced in 1878?), so that Masses alternate between the two churches. Please see the new parish website here.
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The parish school closed in 1988. Above is the parish hall, the subject of a post card in the Brooklyn Eagle Post Cards, Series 27, No. 158. There are nine windows on the second floor as in the photo above. The title of the postcard is "St. Agnes' Church, Sackett and Hoyt Streets." No date of the photo is given. Calling this building a church is puzzling. Was it an interim church after the fire?
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An article from the Manchester, Michigan, Enterprise, dated 12.16.2010, linked here, states that Father Edwin Fisher had three field stone churches all built to the same design, and one is St. Agnes.  However, here is a photo of St. Mary's church in Manchester, Michigan, and it shows few resemblances to St. Agnes.  Maybe the news story is a false lead because of some lack of precision.  St. Agnes is apparently not built of field stone, and the steeple is on the corner.
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I was glad to receive this note from a former parishioner of St. Agnes:
Just now found your site on St. Agnes Church and School!!!  I graduated from the school in 1945 and received a great education there.  My maiden name was Barbara DiNapoli and I lived at 380 Union Street.  I would so very much like to locate some of my friends from way, way back then and hope you might have heard from some.St. Agnes was/is a most beautiful church, probably one of the best in all the boroughs.  We were taught by the Sisters of St. Joseph.  I remember Father Bill Toomey, Father Griffen, and a Monsignor with an Irish brogue!  For the life of me I can't remember his name, but I can see his face as it was then.Hope you have some good referrals for me...my dad was a doctor and my grandparents lived at 90 Douglas Street!  What memories!!
Thank you.   Barbara DiNapoli Cody   tyebc@yahoo.com
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I was glad to receive this note from a former parishioner of St. Peter's:
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Joseph Murgolo a graduate of Saint Paul's School Class of 1963. The reason(s) that I am corresponding with you is the ask for your assistance in attempting to learn as much as I can about the years that I spent at Saint Paul's School ( 1955 to 1963 ). As to what  it is that I am seeking :

* Locate Photos , Biographies and Stories of the School , Church , Alumni , Sisters of Charity, Priest and Convent.

* Historical information about the surrounding community ( Ebels Restaurant , Corner Candy Store , Local Businesses and such).  During the time I attending Saint Paul's School I lived with my family  who also attended Saint Paul's School and Church. Please note that I am not asking you to put this data together for me. I just need to be pointed in a direction. In the meantime I have sent a letter to Saint Paul's Church business office requesting copies of the Sacraments received at Saint Paul's School.                                  Hopefully you have an idea of my journey. Please contact me if you need clarification.

Respectfully,

Joseph Murgolo, 102 Schuyler Drive,Huntersville , N.C. 28078

        

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St. Lucy - St. Patrick, Kent Avenue

Please read this decree concerning the merger of this parish into that of Mary of Nazareth, 41 Adelphi Street, effective January 31, 2011. The name of the parish is Mary of Nazareth, but the name of the church at 41 Adelphi Street is Sacred Heart. It is about a mile west of St. Patrick's.
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Note the 1843 date on the sign, ten years before the creation of the diocese of Brooklyn. According to John Sharp in "History of the Diocese of Brooklyn," vol. 1, p. 113, Catholics in this neighborhood "on the Newtown Road" (Flushing Avenue) purchased a Methodist church near what is now the intersection of Kent and Willoughby Avenues, and named their church St. Mary's. Bishop Hughes of New York sent them a pastor. About 1849, the parish was renamed St. Patrick's. The church shown below was dedicated by Bishop Loughlin of Brooklyn in 1856, three years after the diocese was created.



At the corner of Willoughby and Kent Avenue stands this church built in 1856 by the famous architect Patrick Charles Keely. My photos date from March, 2005. However, please also see this link
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In August, 2023, Brownstoner predicts that the church will be demolished. Yes,  it was demolished by the new owners in January, 2024.

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In the block adjacent to the left side of the church (that is, going downtown on Willoughby Avenue) is the historic property of the convent and orphanage of the Sisters of Mercy. The place is far more than historic; it is was important to many families for more than a century. A New York Times article is linked here.




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St. Boniface, Duffield Street, Downtown

The website for the Oratory Church of St. Boniface is linked here. The church is at 190 Duffield Street, but the mailing address is 109 Willoughby Street, Brooklyn NY 11201, telephone 718-875-2086. The above photo looks north from the intersection of Duffield and Willoughby Streets.  A complex of large buildings called MetroTech looms north and west of the church. The parish location is truly downtown Brooklyn, with Lawrence Street, Jay Street, and Boro Hall subway stations nearby.

Designed by the prolific architect, Patrick Charles Keely, the church was built in 1872. It is maintained splendidly by the parishioners and the Oratorians. "Sacred Havens of Brooklyn," written by Terri Cook, describes the architecture well.  She points to a German prayer in one of the stained-glass window, as this congregation was formed by German Catholics in the 1850's.s
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On Easter, 2012, the New York Times featured St. Boniface parish in an article of some length, as linked here.
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An acquaintance suggested that I look at the video series "City of Churches," produced by Nick Vagas.  I have linked here his outstanding eighteen-minute video of St. Boniface parish.



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Sts. Peter and Paul, Williamsburg

Update in June, 2021. Please see the dedication of a church at 288 Berry Street. [url]https://thetablet.org/saints-peter-and-paul-parish-celebrate-new-church-in-historic-building/[/url]

The mailing address of the parish of Sts. Peter and Paul is 71 South Third St., Brooklyn NY 11211, telephone 718-388-9576. The church, pictured above and constructed in 1963, at 82 South Second Street between Berry St. and Wythe Avenue, will be closed April 3, 2016. Please take note of this decree from the bishop concerning the church building.  A news story in the Tablet (linked HERE), explains how parts of a former school will ultimately be rebuilt for worship.  Please check the dialogue in the comments below!

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The above photo and the two photos below were taken in 2010.   
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To the left of the church is a convent of the Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matara. This link describes their work. They, with the initials S.S.V.M., are connected to the group of I.V.E. priests from Argentina working in East New York parishes.
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Any photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.

The pastor and staff serve a merged parish. This church is a few blocks north of the Williamsburg Bridge. Epiphany is a few blocks south of the Williamsburg Bridge. The website of the merged parish is lined HERE.

The parish, founded in 1844, was one of the first Catholic parishes in Williamsburg. From 1848 to 1957 this parish was graced with architect Patrick Keely's first church. Above is the 1963 church that will soon close.  Below is the building in which a church will be constructed.

This is the former parish school on Berry Street.

Sister Helen Patrick Howley, a Brentwood Josephite, was principal of the parish school. For a brief and inspiring biography, please scroll down on this link.

Above: the rectory at 71 South Third St.
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(Edit of 1.11.2017:) Because of inquiry in the comments below, "Where was the original church?" I refer the reader to this link.  On an aerial photo collection of the entire city taken in 1924, the church appears to be on the east side of Wythe Avenue between South 2nd Street and South 3rd Street.




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Sacred Hearts and St Stephen, Carroll Gardens

The above photo was taken from a Staten Island ferry in June, 2014, minus the scaffolding seen in the 2009 photos below.  Any photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.

The postal address for the parish of Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and St. Stephen is 108 Carroll Street, Brooklyn NY 11231, telephone 718-596-7750. The parish website is linked here. The above view looks east across the canyon of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, Interstate 278.

The above view looks north on Hicks Street, with the church at the corner of Summit Street. The rectory is on Carroll Street, behind the church. Patrick Charles Keely designed St. Stephen's church. In 1941, the planned construction of the expressway caused the loss of the newer church of Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and that parish was merged with St. Stephen's. Please see the date December 7, 1941, in the parish history, linked here.

Summit Street bears an alternate name, Monsignor Del Vecchio Place. Francis Del Vecchio was pastor from about 1950 until 1986. See a biographical obituary here.
For decades, the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, founded by St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, staffed the parish school.

The parish has a Facebook page here.

St. Charles Borromeo, Brooklyn Heights

Above is the church of St. Charles Borromeo at the corner of Sidney Place and Aiken Place in Brooklyn Heights. The parish address is 21 Sidney Place, Brooklyn NY 11201, telephone 718-625-1177. This location is two blocks west of Borough Hall and just south of Joralemon Street. The parish website is linked here. The parish Facebook page is linked HERE. A two-minute video discussion of the stained glass window is linked HERE.

Clicking on any photo will enlarge it. To the right of this sign is a cornerstone bearing the date 1896. I understand that this church was designed by Patrick Keely.

Above is the parish school, now closed. A sign in the window inquires whether neighbors would have a need for pre-school here. The cornerstone is dated 1916.

On Sidney Place, a convent is to the right of the school.

Francis Morrone, Architectural Guidebook

Since I have covered only about a fourth of the Brooklyn parishes so far, I must mention a guidebook that offers enthusiastic, informative understanding of some Brooklyn Catholic churches that I must still visit. The book is Francis Morrone's "An Architectural Guidebook to Brooklyn."
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Here are the page numbers that describe Catholic parish churches:
Page 129: St. Charles Borromeo, 1868, Sidney Place, Brooklyn Heights, by Keely.
Page 136: Our Lady of Lebanon, 1846, Remsen and Henry Streets, purchased from other Christians about 1945.
Page 173: Queen of All Saints, 1915, Lafayette and Vanderbilt Aves.
Page 177: An article on Patrick Charles Keely.
Page 236: St.Anthony of Padua, 1874, Greenpoint, by Keely.
Page 241: St. Elias, 149 Kent St., apparently now sold.
Page 255: Our Lady of Victory, 1891-1895. "A strong Gothic church of Manhattan schist with highly contrasting limestone trim."
Page 297: St. Gregory the Great, 1917, St. John's Place and Brooklyn Ave., by Helmle and Corbett. Morrone writes, "It is one of the most beautiful churches in Brooklyn."
Page 302: St. Paul's, 1838, by Gamaliel King.
Page 345: St. Augustine, 1897, by Parfitt brothers. "Skillful use of color."
Page 350: St.Francis Xavier, 1904, by Thomas F. Houghton "who also did St. Agnes and Our Lady of Victory."
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The book is very helpful for anyone interested in Brooklyn.




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St. Anthony of Padua - St. Alphonsus, Greenpoint

The parish of St. Anthony of Padua was established in 1858. The architect for this second church was the prolific and skilled Patrick Charles Keely. See links at right. Also see the excellent architectural evaluation of this church by Francis Morrone in "An Architectural Guidebook to Brooklyn."
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The mailing address for this parish is 862 Manhattan Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11222, telephone 718-383-3339. The parish has an informative website, linked here, and a Facebook page.  Two Carmelites of Mary Immaculate from Kerala, India, are the parish priests.
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I must thank Msgr. Sean Ogle and blogger Pat McNamara for explaining that this parish was named by a Conventual Franciscan, Fr. Joseph Brunneman, as linked here. Later, the parish of St. Alphonsus was established nearby, but it was merged with St. Anthony of Padua in 1976. The school closed in 2006. 
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For a summary of Fr. Patrick O'Hare, pastor from 1883 to 1926, please see this Historic Greenpoint link.  The piece is written by the historian Geoffrey Cobb, who yesterday (2.27.2016) made an excellent presentation of Greenpoint history for the New York Irish History Roundtable.



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Patrick Charles Keely

According to the AIA Guide to New York City, Patrick Charles Keely designed several Brooklyn Catholic churches:
St. Anthony of Padua, 1875, on Manhattan Avenue at Milton Street, Greenpoint. St. Charles Borromeo, 1869, at Sidney Place and Aitkin Place, Brooklyn Heights. St. John, 1870, on Lewis Avenue. St. Mary's Star of Sea, 1870, at 471 Court St., Cobble Hill. St. Patrick, 1856, at Kent Avenue and Willoughby Avenue. St. Peter, 1860, at the corner of Hicks St. and Warren St., Brooklyn Heights.

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From McNamara's Blog, an excellent summary of Patrick Charles Keely's work is linked here.