Facebook, parishes, and schools

Some parishes and Catholic organizations have active Facebook pages that can be viewed by people, as I, who have not joined Facebook.  In addition to the links on this blog, it might be good to search for the parish, school, or organization on Facebook. When I happen upon such active pages, I will link them to the parish listing on this blog. It appears that the Facebook corporation itself might establish a parish page without any local initiative. Those pages tend to be inactive, with merely a header.

Book: New York Catholics

With enthusiasm, I recommend a new book by Patrick McNamara, "New York Catholics: Faith, attitude & the works!"  It is a paperback of more than 200 pages, published by Orbis Books and also available on Amazon.  Historian and archivist McNamara has presented short biographies of seventy-six Catholics who have lived in the five boroughs.  Each presentation is sharp, clear and right on target in describing these outstanding people.
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Among Brooklynites he describes:
Peter Turner, petitioner for a Brooklyn church in 1822 and a principal founder of St. James, Jay Street.
Fr. Johann Stephan Raffeiner, who in 1841 used his own money to buy the Meserole farm for the new parish of the Most Holy Trinity.  In 1853, he invited the Dominican Sisters from Regensburg, to live and work in his parish.
Fr. Sylvester Malone, in the 1850's a Republican and Unionist when the Democrats were generally pro-slavery.  For fifty years he was pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul, Williamsburg. He got along admirably with the non-Catholic neighbors, and he promoted harmony.
Bishop John Loughlin, first bishop of the diocese of Brooklyn 1853-1891.
Thomas Francis Meehan, newspaperman, historian, and assistant editor of the 1914 Catholic Encyclopedia.  He and his family resided on Greene Avenue.
Patrick Scanlan, editor of the Brooklyn Tablet from 1917 to 1968.
Msgr. Bernard Quinn, in 1922 the founding pastor of the parish of St. Peter Claver.
Bishop Francis Xavier Ford, 1892-1952, martyr.
Msgr. Bryan Karvelis, priest and activist at Transfiguration parish 1956-2005.
Bishop Guy Sansaricq, who has ministered to Haitian immigrants for more than five decades.
Ed Wilkinson, editor of the Brooklyn Tablet since 1985.
Paul Moses, newspaperman and scholar.
Sr. Ann Marie Young, of Visitation Monastery, Bay Ridge.
Rudy Vargas IV, helper of Hispanic Catholcs.

St. Augustine, Sixth Avenue

St. Augustine's church was built in 1888, under the design of the Profitt brothers.

The above view shows the Sterling Place (south) end of the former parish school buildings, which run through to Park Place.  Sisters of St. Joseph taught elementary grades at this end of the building.  
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Tragically, on December 16, 1960, teachers and students saw an airliner descend along Stirling Place (left to right in this photo) before it crashed near Seventh Avenue. 
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From the 1930's until the 1970's, De La Salle Christian Brothers lived in the building where the bay window indicates their chapel.  They taught at St. Augustine's Diocesan High School, now housing a public middle school.  Both the Brothers and the high school used the address 64 Park Place.  A link to that school's alumni organization is here.  One alumnus of the school was Governor Hugh Carey.
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Before the Brothers moved here from St. James Cathedral School in the 1930's, the house was the Sisters' convent.  They moved across the street to the corner of Park Place and Sixth Avenue.

In August of 2016, an alumnus of both the elementary school and high school gave me two links that explain further development of the property.  It seems that part of the property will see 62 condos built within the existing buildings.

The links are HERE and Brooklyn Eagle 4.12.2016.

Nassau Street between Gold and Duffield Sts.

Around December 10, 2014, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle website carried a story "Bidding War for Concord Street Development Site."  However, several paragraphs down, the account veers to 200 Nassau Street, running from Duffield Street to Gold Street on the south side of Nassau St.  This is a two-story residence of some sort, apparently built in the 1950's or 1960's, perhaps a convent.  At any rate, according to this article, in 2012 the Diocese of Brooklyn transferred this property to a non-profit affiliate, Rocklyn Ecclesiastical Corp.  Rocklyn has leased the property to a developer to enlarge for a 49-year term.
The same developer has leased diocesan properties at 17 and 21 Monitor Street (St. Cecilia), 96 Dupont Street (Sts. Cyril and Methodius?), and 81 Ten Eyck Street (St. Mary, Maujer St.).
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Apparently, there are at least two versions of Rocklyn, Rocklyn Ecclesiastical Corp. and Rocklyn Asset Corporation. The word Rocklyn may derive from Rockville Centre and Brooklyn.

More about high schools

The post below this one is more important.  I should have pointed out that students who take the TACHS examination can request that the results be sent to any three Catholic high schools, even in other boroughs.  The nine Catholic high schools in Brooklyn have approximate admissions of 1,225 students, while the nine Catholic high schools in Queens have admissions of 2,190.  I wonder how many youngsters in these boroughs will take the exam in November.

Admissions Test for Brooklyn Catholic High Schools

It is early September, 2014, and the important Student Handbook for taking the entrance examination to Catholic High Schools (for admission in September, 2015) has been released at www.tachsinfo.com 
Look for the word "Handbook" on in the left column on that page.  In this extensive handbook, among the many pageas of information, I find page 25 most helpful because it tells the approximate admissions number and tuition for each Catholic high school in Brooklyn.  These pages also list the Open House dates.  Some charts in this Handbook are turned vertical.  I suggest that these pages be printed in portrait, so you can read the printed page more easily.  
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The nine Catholic high schools in the borough of Brooklyn are listed below, with approximate enrollment figures:
Saint Saviour High School, Park Slope, enrollment about 240 girls.
St. Joseph High School, Willoughby and Bridge Sts., enrollment about 300 girls.
Nazareth Regional High School, East Flatbush, enrollment about 250 students.
Fontbonne Hall Academy, Bay Ridge, enrollment about 485 girls.
Bishop Kearney High School, Borough Park, enrollment about 450 girls.
St. Edmund Prep, Midwood, enrollment about 750 students.
Bishop Loughlin High School, Clinton Hill / Fort Greene.
Xaverian High School, Bay Ridge, enrollment about 1,100 in grades 6-12.  On the website, note the "rumor" about Xaverian becoming coed on the high school level.

Cristo Rey Brooklyn High School, 710 East 37th Street, East Flatbush.  Please read the website, as Cristo Rey is a very different type of Catholic high school.
It would be commendable if each school reported on its website the grade-by-grade enrollment. The approximate admissions total 1,225 for Brooklyn.
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Each school lists an Open House date before the November 8th exam.  Also, note that there is a two-hour session at 180 Remsen Street (near Borough Hall) 6 p.m. Monday, September 22nd, for learning about the high schools.

St. Nicholas Ukrainian church

In my walks about Park Slope, I neglected a church of the Ukrainian Catholic Diocese of Stamford, St. Nicholas at 256 19th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215.  The onion-domed church with a high stoop is on the south side of 19th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. The parish appears to have been established in 1911.