February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Last week, Jane Crotty, senior vice president of George Arzt Communications, contacted the archdiocese on behalf of a “client who had an interest in providing the financial wherewithal” to save the church, which overlooks Tompkins Square Park in the East Village.
“[A senior archdiocese official] said that it was in a state of disrepair, and it was in a dangerous condition and hadn’t been inhabited in eight months,” she said. “He said the decision had been made and that there were other churches in dire need that could better use the money.”
Crotty, however, said that the offer was specific to St. Brigid’s, which the archdiocese said it plans to demolish. “He’s interested because he lives in the neighborhood,” she said of the client, adding that no precise sum was mentioned.
Asked if alternative uses for the structure were discussed with the archdiocese, she said, “The conversation didn’t go to the next level.”
David Brown, director of the archdiocese’s real estate office, did not return calls from the Echo.
As reported in this paper three weeks ago, conservationists are anxious about the fate of St. Brigid’s because it’s a very early example of the work of County Tipperary-born architect Patrick C. Keely, who built 700 churches in a 50-year career.
They’re also concerned about its interiors, such as the sculpted faces of some of the Irish shipwrights who built the church, which adorn its pillars.
Parishioners, who have been shut out of the building since 2001, have complained that archdiocese itself has allowed the church to fall into disrepair.
New York Landmarks Conservancy, a private organization that has donated many millions of dollars in matching grants to help renovate ailing churches and synagogues, has supported the parishioners’ vigorous campaign to save St. Brigid’s. The organization has disputed the archdiocese view that it would take “millions of dollars” to make it usable.
Responding to the news that the archdiocese had dismissed the anonymous offer out of hand, the organization’s president, Peg Breen, said, “If that’s the case, it’s very discouraging.”
Parishioner Carolyn Ratcliffe said that the rejection of the offer gives the lie to the archdiocese’s denial that it has specific plans for the space after demolition.
Ratcliffe said that the archdiocese’s policy was to aggressively maximize real estate return without taking local conditions into account.
“They want the biggest bang for their buck,” she said.
Crotty said the East Village is undergoing gentrification, but in the rush to build, historical treasures are being lost.
“The neighborhood is underserved by landmarks,” she said, adding only the home of jazz great Charlie Parker is listed.
Said Ratcliffe: “St. Brigid’s is an icon; it overlooks the park. It’s far more visible than most other churches, and, of course, it’s an historical monument connected to the Famine and the history of the Irish in New York.”
Ratcliffe said that small, vibrant parishes are being sacrificed, while less active churches are being kept open because they’re bigger and more go to Mass there on Sunday.
“It’s a bean-counting mentality. It’s managerial economics — supply and demand. But the social capital is being lost,” she said.
Lawyer Brian O’Dwyer, who has strongly supported efforts to memorialize the Famine in New York, said: “We have to be cognizant of the huge financial pressures that the archdiocese is under. But everything should be considered. It’s a wonderful part of our history. I hope we could save it. It shouldn’t be set aside without a lot of thought being put into it.”
Added Breen: “There’s only one church like this, with its history.”