Pope John Paul II Family Academy to close

See this Tablet article dated 2.12.2014 about the closing of Pope John Paul II Family Academy (in the former St. Barbara School) this June.  Lack of funds is given as the reason.  Please recall that this academy was funded by an anonymous donor.  At the time of the schools initiation, there was some report of the donor's insistence of family participation in Sunday Mass.  The Tablet article does not indicate the enrollment or the grades that are being taught, nor does it mention staffing. A rooftop photo on the academy's website shows about 110 students and 15 staff, including two or three religious Sisters, perhaps from Poland.

From Ridgewood to Albany

The Troy Record of 2.11.2014 reports that Msgr. Edward Scharfenberger of the diocese of Brooklyn has been named the next bishop of Albany.  The article is linked here.
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Contrasting the two dioceses, I note that the diocese of Albany includes more than thirteen counties, Brooklyn two. According to Catholic-hierarchy.org  Brooklyn has one priest for approximately each 2,200 Catholics, Albany one priest for 1,360.
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The Tablet article of February 12, 2014, linked here, explains that Msgr. Scharfenberger was baptized at St. Aloysius church and educated at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal School, both in Queens.

August, 2013, changes in schools

This post is stale news because I did not notice a diocesan summary dated August, 2013.  In transforming elementary schools into quasi-independent Catholic academies, the diocese announced these changes:
St. Patrick School, Bay Ridge or Fort Hamilton, is now a Catholic Academy.  Please see the website here.
St. Peter Catholic Academy is the new name of  St. Mary Mother of Jesus - St. Frances Cabrini Academy, 23rd Avenue, Bensonhurst. For more description, also see this post.
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St. Anselm Catholic Academy is the new name of St. Anselm's parish school, 83rd Street, Bay Ridge.
St. Francis Xavier Catholic Academy is the new name of St. Francis Xavier parish school, Park Slope.
St. Jerome Catholic Academy is the new name of St. Jerome parish school, Flatbush.
Our Lady of Trust Catholic Academy now has one campus, at St. Jude's, Canarsie Road.

A free ebook from 1871

Fortunately, I encountered this title during a Google search: "A brief historical Sketch of the Catholic Church on Long Island," by Patrick Mulrenan, 1871.  The link is here.
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Recall that Long Island includes Brooklyn, Queens, and everywhere to Montauk Point.  At that time, the diocese of Brooklyn included the entire island.  What is now Nassau County was part of Queens County, and Brooklyn was a City.  
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At the top left of the page at the above link, you will see a red button "Ebook Free."  Yes, because the copyright has expired, Google can give you without charge what it scanned from the Harvard University library.  Before you download, consider where you want to read this book, on your computer or on a tablet, because it will download only to the device that fetches it. 
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Mulrenan's book is a valuable snapshot of the Diocese of Brooklyn and its parishes and good works, as observed in 1871.  You may use the find tool to locate the parish, neighborhood, or person that is your particular interest.  In general, histories of dioceses focus on the bishops more than on the parishes, even when they attempt to write from the ground up.  The book, nevertheless, is a treasury of the growth of the church on our island.  Highly recommended.  I see copies for sale in the used book market also.

A relic of St. Anthony of Padua will visit Brooklyn

(The following paragraph is printed as received.)
"The Franciscan Friars invite you to join them in welcoming Saint Anthony of Padua on the occasion of the 750th Anniversary of the Discovery of Saint Anthony’s Relics by Saint Bonaventure. St Anthony will be visiting us in the form of a precious relic from his Basilica in Padua, Italy. The relic will be accompanied by one friar from the Messenger of St Anthony in Padua."

Saturday, December 7th, 2013
Most Precious Blood church
70 Bay 47th St. (Bath Beach Area) Brooklyn 
Veneration at 4:00 PM, Vigil Mass at 5:00 PM
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Sunday, December 8.
St. Anthony of Padua church, 155 Sullivan St. (Soho)
Manhattan
Mass at 11:00 AM
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Monday, December 9
St. Patrick’s cathedral, New York
5th Avenue at 50th St.
Welcoming of the Relics Mass 7:00 AM
Mass 9:00 AM, Veneration from 10:00 to 8:00 PM
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Tuesday, December 10.
St. Patrick’s cathedral
5th Avenue at 50th St.
Veneration from 8:00 to 5:00 PM, Closing Mass at 5:30 PM
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Wednesday, December 11.  
Our lady of Pompeii church, 25 Carmine St., Manhattan
Veneration at 5:00 PM, Mass at 6:30 PM
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Thursday, December 12.
Our Lady Queen of Martyrs church 110-06 Queens Blvd.
Forest hills, Mass at 12:05 PM
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St. Catherine of Sienna
33 New Hyde Park Rd. Franklin Square,
Vigil Mass at 5:00 PM, Vigil Mass at 8:00 PM
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Sunday, December 15,
Basilica of Regina Pacis, 1230 65th St.
Brooklyn 
Mass at 12:00 Noon
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For more information, please contact the Anthonian Association, 347-738-4306

(The above seems to come from some Conventual Franciscans, who have charge of the Basilica in Padua and who have a friary in Elmhurst, Queens.  St. Anthony (1195-1231) was born in Lisbon, and  traveled to Madrid and Padua. An article in the National Catholic Register (linked here) describes more, but does not specify which relic will visit Brooklyn.  Presumably his tongue remains in its golden case in Padua.  St. Anthony was not a martyr.)

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.

Queen of the Rosary Catholic Academy

Sorry, this school closed permanently in 2020.  In September, 2013, Queen of the Rosary Catholic Academy moved into new quarters at 11 Catherine Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY 11211.  The telephone number is 718-388-7992. The former St. Nicholas Commercial High School was renovated for the Academy as a state-of-the-art facility. 
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In a sense, this Catholic Academy replaced four parish schools: St. Cecilia, Holy Trinity (more recently named Sts. Joseph and Dominic), Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and St. Nicholas.