By PATRICK O’CONNOR
Forgotten NY correspondent
In the ever-changing landscape that is NYC housing, there have been a few examples of churches repurposed as apartments. In his article on Bushwick, Kevin showed the former St. Mark’s Lutheran Church conversion to apartments at Bushwick Avenue and Jefferson Street. A while ago, a story surfaced that the former Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion, 6th Avenue and west 20th in Manhattan, turned nightclub known as the Limelight, will be converted into apartments.
This past winter when I was spending more time in Bushwick than I had in my previous six decades, there were a couple of days when I had some time to burn and did a walk-around the neighborhood. A former church at 198 St. Nicholas Avenue, corner of Harman Street, dating to 1917 is another example of church conversions. In this case, the roof of the single-story building was removed as were the south and west facades. North and east walls remained, and dwelling units were constructed in three stories within the existing footprint. Black vertical panels were used as the new façade and are typical in a few types of architectural styles including Industrial Modern.
Property records show information dating to 1971 with ownership by St. Andrew’s English Evangelical Church of the City. Ownership transferred to Church of God of Ridgewood in 1979, then to the developer, St. Nick Properties in 2014. The building was last used as a Romanian Pentecostal Church.
The 1940 tax map photo shows the original church. However, the identification sign is not legible to see which denomination used the building. This photo also shows the former Wyckoff Heights Presbyterian Church, now the Ridgewood Pentecostal Church next door on Harman Street.
[That addition is ugly with a capital U — Ed.]
Patrick O’Connor is a lifelong resident of Queens, retired with 40 years of service for City of New York Department of Environmental Protection and is a licensed sightseeing guide in New York City.
8/11/26