From the NY Times:With the acrid odor of loss still in the air, dozens of past and present members of the century-old Maspeth United Methodist Church, as well as neighbors, came together for a Sunday service five days after it was destroyed by fire.
They arrayed themselves in lawn chairs on the sidewalk and in the tiny yard of the parsonage, next to mounds of blackened rubble at the church site, at 66-35 58th Avenue in Maspeth, Queens. Two hoses still snaked from a dripping fire hydrant, and a giant orange earth-moving vehicle that was scooping up debris earlier Sunday morning paused for the service.
...those in attendance wiped away tears and tried to look beyond the fire, which broke out at 4:30 a.m. on Tuesday during a fierce lightning storm. Manuel Martinez, a spokesman for the Fire Department, said the cause “is still under investigation, but it’s not suspicious.”
The church was demolished the next day, but members of the congregation were allowed inside beforehand to salvage a few items, including a cross. Little remained, however.
Mr. Shklanko grabbed some bricks from the foundation, in the hope that something of the old church might be incorporated into a new one.
Hmmm... one historic Maspeth church building burned down while another historic Maspeth church building sits in a box waiting for funds to rebuild it.
Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
28 comments:
I am devastated to have heard about the suspicious fire and demolition of a century plus Maspeth church, which was the cornerstone of the community and generation upon generation. It is great that a few items were salvaged. In my opinion, the church should be rebuilt as closely as possible to the original design (stained glass and other architectural elements), but with improved fire codes and materials. The packed away St. Saviours Church should not be reassembled where that church stood, but should be rebuilt on its original parcel or on All Faiths Cemetery as a second option. The parishioners should communicate with the Sacred Sites Program of the NY Landmarks Conservancy (Ann Friedman in particular).
Just want to register my YES vote towards the wishes of the prior commenter.
IF its not possible to rebuild the Methodist Church to its original state becuase there is no insurance or other issues I think its a great iedea to put St. Saviors there. The congregation should really decide that issue, as it is their church.
H-m-m-m....
maybe this wasn't G-d's lightning that struck?
Very suspicious indeed!
Corrupt, rapist Dennis Gallagher deserves to be stored in a box instead of the historic St. Saviour's...which should have stood on its original site...were it not for his collusion with Mayor Bloomberg to ignore the demands of Maspethians to preserve it for posterity!
First of all, the fire was not suspicious, as the FDNY stated in the article.
Why should the packed away St. Saviour's Church be built in Middle Village? It belongs in Maspeth! This would be a great opportunity to keep it in Maspeth since efforts to preserve the original parcel have thus far been futile. And if Bloomturd is re-elected that parcel will certainly be redeveloped.
The parishioners should communicate with the Sacred Sites Program of the NY Landmarks Conservancy (Ann Friedman in particular).
Thanks for starting my day off with a good laugh!
Michael Perlman should stick to having NYC diners moved out of state and leave the real preservation work to the grownups.
If the MUMC parishioners would be in favor of hosting St. Saviour's at their site, I would give it my blessing. The church should remain a church and if there is an active congregation to accept it, then they should have it. It absolutely pains me to see a landmark church being moved to another town while the original site is being used as a garbage dump. I know from the way they cared for their own church that the MUMC would give it the care it deserves.
Please put a church back there. I don't care whether it's the original design or St. Savior. As long as it's not Fedders crap. That block still has a lot of charm.
This is very sad. My Godmother is a Methodist minister and this is what she wrote me about this...
"I truly appreciate your sending this about the Maspeth U.M.C. One of my best friends was pastor there for a number of years..I led a two-day workshop there once and also participated in her son's Baptism Uncle Russell and I spent several weekends there over the years (after I was retired) participating in worship, etc...... soooo truly appreciate this piece on the Fire. It's truly a heartbreak."
Sacred Sites will not help monetarily if the site was not landmarked or on the national register.
Juniper Valley will not let you have the church because they want it in Middle Village and have made some kind of deal with the cemetery. (Look at their website and they don't even have the church burning down as the lead story but rather some lame All Faiths ceremony to remember a ship that sank more than 100 years ago.)
What happened w/ St. Savior when all of a sudden it was mentioned as the perfect location for a school? What happened to the park the neighborhood said they would fight for? The place is a mess now with garbage dumpsters all over it. The time to rally is now with Bloomturd running for office.
Best of luck to this congregation on rebuilding their church.
"Sacred Sites will not help monetarily if the site was not landmarked or on the national register"
The irony of this just hit me - so a site inst'really sacred to LC unless a useless, biased and political body such as LPC gives it its blessing. What good are organizations like these?
"Michael Perlman should stick to having NYC diners moved out of state and leave the real preservation work to the grownups"
OT, Speaking of diners, what's going in with the Cheyenne? It was going to Red Hook, then Alabama, but six months later its still sitting there boarded up.
"The packed away St. Saviours Church should not be reassembled where that church stood, but should be rebuilt on its original parcel or on All Faiths Cemetery as a second option"
What makes the all faiths plan better than a site in downtown Maspeth? I never understood why a presumably profitable cemetery was getting a free church which would seems to benefit them more than the community.
Mike D said...
"Sacred Sites will not help monetarily if the site was not landmarked or on the national register"
The irony of this just hit me - so a site inst'really sacred to LC unless a useless, biased and political body such as LPC gives it its blessing. What good are organizations like these?
FACT
The NYLC funded the services of preservation architect Kaitsen Woo and master carpenter Russell Powell of Island Housewrights to oversee the precise measuring, drawing, labeling, and careful dismantling and storage of the building.
And where is the rest of the money coming from?
What will they provide when a historic (but not landmarked) church doesn't need to be taken apart but needs to be rebuilt?
What is the purpose of incorporating beat up, fire damaged, termite-ridden wood into the new version of the church? If you have architectural plans you'd save money if you just bought new wood.
Oh simple. Helen Marshall can waste more taxpayer money this way.
Ognibene and Crowley need the Maspeth vote this time around. Let's see what they do about this.
Here's a better idea. Why don't we move the remains of the Methodist church to All Faiths Cemetery too, where it can be turned into an office or a restroom or something useful like that. And we can name it after Serf Maltese, just like the road in AFC. The Serf Maltese shitter. Can't you just picture the ribbon cutting? And I'll help commemorate the Anthony Como commemorative urinal that will be housed inside, complete with a likeness of his bloated face on the puck.
It's time to save all of Maspeth's churches (and keep them in Maspeth!)
James: ROFLMAO!!!
If you have architectural plans you'd save money if you just bought new wood.
Yeah ...if you used computers (CAD) to draw the plans.
You make use of every scrap but you end up with generic looking slap up garbage like this.
Every dam cut is 45 or 90 degrees in 2, 4, 6 or 8 foot sections
farm4.static.flickr.com/3636/3582829089_4d05aa97c4_o.jpg
St. Saviour's probably wouldn't be moved here because 1) it would be too expensive, and 2) the Juniper Civic wants it as their personal meeting house in Middle Village.
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