The First Church of Christ, Scientist in Manhattan is a 1903 building located at Central Park West and 96th Street in the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The building is a designated

New York City landmark The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...

Architecture

The building, designed by

Carrère & Hastings Carrère (; oc, Carrèra) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. See also *Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department The following is a list of the 546 Communes of France, communes of the Pyré ...

, was completed in 1903, is described by ''

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'' architectural historian

Christopher Gray Christopher Stewart Gray (April 24, 1950 – March 10, 2017) was an American journalist and architectural historian,Schneider, Daniel B (August 27, 2000)"F.Y.I. Hell's Kitchen in the Raw" ''The New York Times''. March 4, 2010. noted for his week ...

as "one of the city's most sumptuous churches." The style reminiscent of the churches of

Nicholas Hawksmoor Nicholas Hawksmoor (probably 1661 – 25 March 1736) was an English architect. He was a leading figure of the English Baroque style of architecture in the late-seventeenth and early-eighteenth centuries. Hawksmoor worked alongside the principa ...

, a combination of English Baroque and French Beaux-Arts detailing. The building featured stained-glass windows by

John LaFarge John La Farge (March 31, 1835 – November 14, 1910) was an American artist whose career spanned illustration, murals, interior design, painting, and popular books on his Asian travels and other art-related topics. La Farge is best known for ...

. The window over the front door was named "Touch Me Not" and was based on John 20:17, depicting Jesus' encounter with Mary Magdalene outside the tomb. It featured mosaics, gold-plated chandeliers, marble floors, curved pews made of Circassian walnut, and elevators called "moving rooms" because they were large enough to hold 20 people. The church was designated a

in 1974, and is a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

to the federally designated

Central Park West Historic District The Central Park West Historic District is located along Central Park West, between 61st and 97th Streets, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on ...

Building use

In 2004 the building was sold to the

Crenshaw Christian Center The Crenshaw Christian Center is a non-denominational megachurch based in Los Angeles, California. It has around 28,000 members. History The church was founded in 1973 by Frederick K. C. Price in Inglewood, California. In 1981, the church ...

and the Christian Science congregation merged with the congregation of the Second Church of Christ, Scientist. In June 2014, after almost ten years in the building, the Crenshaw Christian Center sold the building to 361 Central Park L.L.C. for $26 million. The new owner planned to convert the 47,000-square-foot structure to condominiums. However, the condominium plan was rejected by the zoning appears board. In January 2018 the

Children's Museum of Manhattan The Children’s Museum of Manhattan is located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded by Bette Korman, under the name GAME (Growth Through Art and Museum Experience), in 1973. The museum became the Children’s Muse ...

announced that it had acquired the building. In June 2020 the renovation plan was approved by the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Congregation

The congregation was organized in 1886 by

Augusta Emma Stetson Augusta Emma Stetson (''née'' Simmons) (October 12, 1842 – October 12, 1928) was an American religious leader. Known for her impressive oratory skills and magnetic personality, she attracted a large following in New York City. However, her incr ...

. The congregation gave Stetson the lot adjacent to the Church on West 96th St, where she lived in a neo-Georgian house. Stetson's house was demolished in 1930, replaced by a "mild(ly)

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

" apartment building designed by

Thomas W. Lamb Thomas White Lamb (May 5th, 1870 – February 26th, 1942) was a Scottish-born, American architect. He was one of the foremost designers of theaters and cinemas in the 20th century. Career Born in Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom, Thomas W. La ...

. The congregation met in rented space before construction of the church.

References

{{New York City Historic Sites Christian Science churches in New York City Churches in Manhattan New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan Historic district contributing properties in Manhattan Carrère and Hastings buildings Central Park West Historic District Baroque Revival architecture in New York City