In the mid-20th Century, the street map of Fort Greene was drastically changed when multiple housing projects such as the Raymond Ingersoll, University Towers and Walt Whitman Houses were all constructed between Willoughby Street, Park Avenue, Flatbush Avenue Extension and Fort Greene Park. Numerous streets were eliminated and others renamed.
The Church of St. Michael and St. Edward, a magnificent twin towered, Romanesque building, was built as St. Edward Roman Catholic Church between 1891 and 1906; the parish of St. Edward had some difficulty raising funds and so the building, designed by architect John Deery, wasn’t opened until the latter year, a good 15 years after the cornerstone was laid. It originally served a bustling Irish congregation that dwindled as the decades wore on and Fort Greene slipped into economic depression, a far cry from the gentrified enclave it is today. Tenements that once held the population that worshiped at St. Edward’s were razed for housing projects that were populated by fewer Catholics.
The church was built on what was originally called Canton Street but was renamed to St. Edward’s Street, such was the church’s domination of its immediate location. When other streets were demapped around it, St. Edward’s Street survived. Walt Whitman Library, across the street from the church, was also allowed to survive. In 1942, St. Edward’s merged with St. Michael’s Church and was thereupon known by both names.
The ill-fated church’s management could not adequately maintain the combined parish and finally, by 2010, the dwindling congregation was transferred to Sacred Heart Church on Adelphi Street. In 2023, the beautiful church was torn down and plans call for an 11-story condominium to replace it.
There is one more reason to regret the church’s destruction. Its claim to fame regarding the Myrtle Avenue El is that you could still see the el, sort of, when you entered. The church replaced its altar and cross in 1972, with the aid of artists Carol Dykeman O’Connor and Robert Zacharian with a new one built with a few of the old girders spared when the Myrtle Avenue El was demolished. Did the altar and cross survive, or did they, and the last of the el, go to the scrap heap? [Note: see Comments for possible news about this]
Once again…sick transit, Gloria!
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5/30/23
10 comments
We will judged not by what we have built, but what we have destroyed.
Per an article I saw last year (the Times or the D-news?) I think the El-beam altar and lecterns, maybe the stained glass too, were warehoused by the diocese. I grew up in the neighborhood in the 1970’s, my parents used to take us (make us go) to church at Saint Michaels/Saint Edwards.
Thanks for the photo credit. Sad to see the empty lot!
Goth types love old church stuff.I can just hear some auctioneer going
“Now whatll ya give me for this here confessional.Its a fine confessional,
barely used,would make a fine addition to any home or office….
Both the Diocese of Brooklyn and the Archdiocese of New York maintain warehouses that contain items from closed Churches. They can be as large as stained glass windows, pews, or entire alter pieces, or as small as statues or sacred vessels or candlesticks. They are made available to parishes in those dioceses and, sometimes, to churches in need in such places as Haiti or Costa Rica. The intent is to keep such items within the Church community and to preserve their history and heritage. While demographics and finance may require the demolition of some churches or schools, it is good that some of some parts of their existence can continue to serve and be appreciated.
Wow, what a travesty 🙁 … Why wasn’t this beauty somehow protected?
Keeping it as a Catholic church wouldn’t be feasible as membership steadily declines, but other religious groups, especially the fundamentalists, are growing like crazy and in constant need of space. Selling it to one of those groups would have preserved the structure.
It would be great if such Churches could continue to be used for religious (or other) uses, but the expense can be unbearable. As a Catholic parish, or Protestant or Jewish congregations decline, income shrinks and maintenance is deferred, just to remain solvent. By the time the fateful decision to close, or abandon, a space is made, the structure is often seriously in decline and would take considerable funds and effort to restore, or even just stabilize. Most small new religious groups do not have the cash available to reverse the structural decline of such buildings. Add to that the value of the land on which those old churches or synagogues stand. The religious group that owns one of these properties is already hard-pressed to continue. The income provided by the sale of the land is hard to resist.
In some cases, congregations have sold their structure and land and have included provision of space for that congregation in the new building on the site. While the structures are great signs of past community, the congregations can continue to serve their religious purpose in a lesser space. Unfortunately, those wonderful old churches and synagogues are lost to us in the process.
The Catholic Church in France could no longer afford Notre Dame
cathedral so the French govt. now owns it.If Notre Dame was in
America it would have been demolished to make way for upscale
apartments
Thanks for bringing up the church’s alter fashioned by girder from the Myrtle Ave el. If my memory serves me correct,
I believe I saw a photo of it in the NY Daily News way back when.