bayridgechurch

Save Bay Ridge United Methodist Church

LATEST NEWS FROM THE COMMITTEE TO SAVE THE GREEN CHURCH

According to a recent article in the Brooklyn Paper, the petitions the Committee recently delivered to State Senator Martin Golden's office bore the signatures of 1,179 Bay Ridge residents who seek to halt the demolition of the Green Church.

The Committee held the petition drive in response to Golden's statement some months ago that he hadn't heard from the community about the Green Church.

Now that he has heard, Golden remains unmoved. According to Golden spokesperson John Quaglione, the signatures are "very nice" but the building can't be saved. (Read "won't".)

Last month, the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) disapproved a plan filed by Bricolage Designs, the firm chosen by buyer Abe Betesh to build a seven-story, 72-unit residential building, a new "church" and a 42-car parking lot at the Green Church site.

There is no new DOB filing -- so far.

According to the Brooklyn Paper and one of the local blogs, "asbestos removal" and "interior demolition" are going on at the Green Church. The Committee is unable to corroborate those reports, but we have observed dumpsters filled with rugs and furnishings in the parking lot and a National Grid street cut in front of the former parsonage.

The Brooklyn Paper article

Please sign our on-line petition, which reads as follows:

"To Our Local Elected Representatives:

We, the undersigned, residents and voters of Bay Ridge, urgently request that you intercede with the parties to the contract of sale for the Bay Ridge United Methodist Church ("The Green Church") at the corner of Ovington and Fourth Avenues in Bay Ridge.

The seller, the congregation, plans to tear the church down within the next month in order to fulfill the contract with the buyer, who has already advertised the vacant lot for sale.

This beautiful and historic 1899 church, designed by eminent American church architect George W. Kramer, is a beloved local landmark, listed in the State and National Registers of Historic Places (NR 99001133) since 1999, and the most distinctive building in our neighborhood.

Alternative buyers who would preserve and re-use the church seek to negotiate with the parties to the sale contract, but unless the planned demolition is halted, these negotiations cannot go forward.

We seek your help in halting the demolition, so that that negotiations can proceed and an irreplaceable part of our history be preserved.

The Green Church belongs in Bay Ridge. Please help us to achieve that goal by interceding with the congregation to halt the planned demolition and negotiate an appropriate alternative disposition.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned"

Click here to sign: http://www.petitiononline.com/69887769/petition.html

You can contact the Committee as follows:

Committee to Save the Bay Ridge United Methodist Church
Box 57
6904 Colonial Road
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11209
V-Mail: (messaging only) 718-307-7852

E-Mail savethegreenchurch@yahoo.com

(To join the Committee, e-mail the group site administrator at the above address.)
Blog: http://bayridgejournal.blogspot.com/

For more news of the Committee and its activities, click on:

http://bayridgejournal.blogspot.com/

SaveTheGreenChurch@yahoo.com
P.O.Box 57
6904 Colonial Road
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11209