Our Lady of Loreto, Brownsville

At the corner of Pacific and Sackman Streets, in Ocean Hill, Brownsville, or East New York, is the church of Our Lady of Loreto, by Italians a century ago. An excellent story about this parish appeared in the New York Times, December 29, 2008, titled "A Church that held the neighborhood's heart," link here.
The location is just south of Atlantic Avenue, close to the eastbound platform of the Long Island Rail Road's East New York station.
The parish school closed in 1988.
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On 4.21.2016, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle published a lengthy article about the status of the church of Our Lady of Loreto.  Here is the link: Our Lady of Loreto is an Ocean Hill Cultural Treasure.
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In February of 2017, the activities of several organizations to save the edifice continue, as this website attests: link HERE.
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As of August 17, 2017:
https://www.facebook.com/saveOLL/photos/a.1828960780700772.1073741826.1828956094034574/1907278016202381/?type=1&theater
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As of October 16, 2017, the church has been demolished. Curbed NY has a twitter photo of the rubble. Link HERE.

St Ambrose, Tompkins Ave.

On the southwest corner of Tompkins and DeKalb Avenues is Mt. Pisgah church and school, formerly the parish and school of St. Ambrose. About 1978, the congregation of St. Ambrose parish was moved into the smaller buildings of Our Lady of Monserrate, a few blocks south on Tompkins Avenue at Vernon Avenue. It seems that in January, 2008, that combined parish was itself handed over to All Saints, at Throop and Flushing Avenues.
For a discussion of the church building that was St. Ambrose, see this article from the Brownstoner and, more importantly, the comments below the article.
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North of St. Ambrose is the Brooklyn Triangle redevelopment zone, the subject of dispute as described (how accurately?) in this Daily News article of 11.26.2008.
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Men and women of the parish faithful appear on a marvelous website here, replete with pages and pages of photos. The Sisters of St. Joseph staffed the school for decades. St. Ambrose school closed in 1973, according to the diocesan website. Sadly, even the Baptist Mt. Pisgah Christian Academy shows weak numbers, with only fourteen students in 8th grade.



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Newspaper: Brooklyn Catholic

I chose the name "Brooklyn Catholic" for this blog for directness and clarity. Now I have learned that a four-page weekly newspaper, the Brooklyn Catholic, was published from February 20, 1869, until the death of an editor in 1871. Source: John K. Sharp, "History of the Diocese of Brooklyn, 1853-1953," 2 vols., Fordham University Press, 1954. On page 240 of Vol. 1, Mr. Sharp says it was Brooklyn's first Catholic paper. Other Manhattan-based papers preceded it.
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Please click on Comments (in green above) for an important note from a reader.




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Marketing of St. Elias, Greenpoint

Walking around Greenpoint in 2008, I was unaware that I passed close to the site of St. Elias Catholic church at 145 Kent Street. (The church was up for sale then, but it did not sell.)
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Please see this link to Curbed in February, 2012, with photos and narrative.  In October, 2012, I cannot determine the status.

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This link has many comments, some of which explain that the church, once Protestant, was purchased by Catholics of the Byzantine-Ruthenian eparchy of Passaic, probably in the mid-twentieth century.  

St. Mary Star of the Sea

On the east side of Court Street in South Brooklyn or Carroll Gardens is the church of St. Mary Star of the Sea. The mailing address is 467 Court St., Brooklyn NY 11231, telephone 718-625-2270. The parish website is here.
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For decades, the Dominican Sisters staffed the parish school, which closed in 1988. Adjacent to the church is a building which appears to have been the parish school now signed "Blue Feather School." The parish was established in 1853, apparently by Fr. David Bacon, pastor at Assumption. In "Brooklyn by Name," page 70, the authors Leonard Benardo and Jennifer Weiss point out that Al Capone married Mae Coughlin here in 1919.
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Please note the comment (link above photos) which states that the Sisters of Charity taught the girls and the Franciscan Brothers the boys.  Thanks for the correction, June, 2013.


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Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Greenpoint

The mailing address for the parish of Sts. Cyril and Methodius is 150 Dupont Street, Brooklyn NY 11222, telephone 718-389-4424. Polish Vincentian priests staff the parish. The website is here. Both photos were taken on the Eagle Street side of the parish property, which is mid-block between Manhattan Avenue and McGuinness Blvd. The parish school closed in 1998.



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Thanks to Noirin of Co. Mayo for finding this description within the parade instructions for the 2013 Pulaski Day parade:
SS. CYRIL & METHODIUS PARISH LOCATED IN GREENPOINT, NY, WAS FOUNDED IN 1916 BY A GROUP OF POLISH GENTLEMEN, WHO APPEALED TO BISHOP CHARLES MCDONNELL FOR HELP.
HIS EXCELLENCY ASSIGNED REV. EMIL STRENSKI THE TASK OF STARTING THE NEW PARISH. THE FIRST MASS OF THE NEWLY FORMED PARISH WAS CELEBRATED ON OCTOBER 14TH, 1917. THE PARISH SCHOOL OPENED ITS DOORS THREE YEARS LATER, IN THE FALL OF 1920. THE PARISH IS STILL A VIBRANT PARISH EVEN TO THIS DAY, EVEN THOUGH IT ENCOUNTERED MANY HARD TIMES THROUGH THE YEARS, NAMELY WWI, THE GREAT DEPRESSION, AND WWII, WHICH IN THE END ONLY MADE THE PARISH THAT MUCH STRONGER.
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IN 1939, ST. COLUMBKILLE, A FELLOW GREENPOINT PARISH, FELL ON VERY HARD TIMES DUE TO LACK OF PARISHIONERS AND IT WAS REV. MROZINSKI, THE PASTOR OF S.S. CYRIL & METHODIUS AT THE TIME, WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR MERGING THE TWO PARISHES. THE CURRENT CHURCH STANDS ON THE SITE OF ST. COLUMBKILLE, LOCATED AT 161 EAGLE ST. IN GREENPOINT, BROOKLYN.
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IN 1936, THE PARISH’S SUNDAY SCHOOL WAS ESTABLISHED SO THAT GRAMMAR SCHOOL SPIRITUAL EDUCATION. THE CCD PROGRAM WHICH IS NOW HELD ON FRIDAY’S AND SATURDAY’S IN POLISH IS STILL GOING STRONG AND CONTINUES TO GROW EVERY YEAR. IN ADDITION, THE PARISH HOSTS A POLISH SATURDAY SCHOOL, WHICH ALSO CONTINUES TO GROW IN NUMBERS EACH AND EVERY YEAR. IT OFFERS THE YOUTH OF OUR PARISH AN OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN ABOUT THE HISTORY AND CULTURE OF POLAND. IN 1996, THE PRIESTS OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE MISSIONS OF ST. VINCENT DE PAUL CAME TO OUR PARISH.

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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