The city has issued a demolition permit for Our Lady of Loreto Church at 126 Sackman Street, meaning the beloved Ocean Hill church could be demolished any day. The demolition permit was issued on March 24 to demolition firm Titan Industrial Services Corporation.
The Renaissance style church was completed in 1908 and designed by architect Adriano Armezzani, an Italian immigrant who worked with fellow Italian craftsmen — including a sculptor, painter and builder — to complete the project.
Shuttered by the diocese in 2009, it has been at the center of an ongoing struggle between preservation and demolition ever since. After the closure and abandoning plans for demolition, the diocese leased the land to another Catholic organization, Catholic Charities.
An agreement was signed with the State Historic Preservation Office not to demolish the church, and to build an $18 million development consisting of 64 affordable units on part of the land. The plan to reuse the church as a community center never panned out.
15 comments:
I imagine that this is the result of people no longer praying and turning away from the good Lord.
Perhaps a sign of the end times...
And yet the Church scratches their heads over why attendance is down. Much like the Mayor's rent, it is an attitude of "do as I preach, not what I do". Just once I wish our 'leaders' would lead by example and do the right thing.
The Diocese and Vatican is screwing everybody, they want to be in the housing business. This shit all started with St.Leonards in Bushwick, They get to screw up the whole neighborhood and don't even pay tax.
They will build HUGE and to the property line. You you can also bet wont be ONE parking space for any of those tenants.
Churches closing down but Mosques going up got to love all the multiculturalism in Queens. You are not in America when you are in Queens you are in a foreign country.
Churches own dam fault, for years people trusted them with children and in every case of misuse of funds, molestation all these did for a fix was payola then hide all these misfits and perverts. Many who came from orphanage's and various institution and given "sanctuary"
Today they give illegals shelter and free stuff with our "donations"
The Vatican and all the NYC Diocese are just as crooked and underhanded as the mentally ill drug addict mayor !!
These people are screw then wonder why the flock left and why most don't trust them !! --Including the Pope who speaks Spanish when in New York English when he's in Ireland.
My mother was a former Catholic school teacher she saw and overheard PLENTY of things nobody would believe if she spoke..
Don't feel sorry for the church because they are as big a bunch of Hippocrates, yeah sucks people will now suffer with parking and have to look at a big box.
just because they don't pay property tax
do you know what it takes to heat that building?
an easy $50K a year just for heating oil
maintenance
electricity
insurance
you need 500 people a week putting $10 bucks a head in the plate just to keep doors open and lights on
if it was preserved, who'd pay over $250K a year to maintain it?
This is a case of development and money from the Diocese and Councilmember. There was an agreement to from SPHO to re-adapt and restore this historic Italian American church. Last National Church in NYC and largest cast stone structure in America. Here's some info...
http://saveourladyofloreto.org/saveourladyofloreto/Save_Our_Lady_of_Loreto.html
https://www.facebook.com/saveOLL/
Catholic Charities especially Monsignor LoPinto (who is running a developent scheme with the Catholci church properties) and Councilman Rafael Espinal are in cahoots. Corruption, greed and money. This is an architectural treasure. Only in NYC this would be demolishedml.
The building should be perserved , and turned into condo apartments. I have seen some good examples of this in philadelphia, very fancy, good way to generate money. They should do thid with the schools as well.
Houses of worship should stay that way for ever.
It's a shame. But they have to build a box with windows and no style in order to maximize profit. I would rather keep it looking cool and make something useful. I still wouldn't be opposed with adding to it in order to make it more useful. But still keep the original structure. Once it's gone you can never get the same.
only in NY and only in the US... Any civilized country will do anything to save its history..
sign the petition:
https://www.change.org/p/new-york-city-landmarks-preservation-commission-saving-our-lady-of-loreto-church
Unlike a lot of buildings featured here, this one is gorgeous! Why would anyone tear it down instead of repurposing it?
Bottom line is the church is desperate needs money badly. These people view the housing business as very lucrative and are jumping at opportunity knowing this mayor and administration will let them do whatever they want.
They don't give a F about surrounding homeowners or what it looks like.
A petition does nothing, may as well hold hands and sing kumbaya
The only fix was at the voting booth years ago.
Now stupid democrat voters must take the punishment once again for not learning a lesson.
"Why would anyone tear it down instead of repurposing it"
Because you really cant make $$ with a stone structure like that, especially here in the Northeast.
One could build a smaller insulated building inside but then you what do you do for windows ? cut each window through 12 inched granite and end up with perhaps 24 inch deep recessed in layman's terms "tunneled sills" that cant bring in much sunlight. You then loose you energy discount ratings.
For apartments (the most return $$ per SQ foot) you would have to build a frame inside the existing structure. It would be custom and cost would be tremendous and what you would end up is much less living space and people it can house.
What comes off some computer program is cheap, used all stock material and goes up real quick because you don't need special or skilled labor.
You can start making your return $$ much faster (without public and political interference) once the old structure is rubble.
-Gee
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