St. Lucy's Church (Manhattan)
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St. Lucy's Church is a former parish church of the Parish of St. Lucy, which operated under the authority of the Archdiocese of New York in the
East Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem or and historically known as Italian Harlem, is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City, roughly encompassing the area north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, F ...
section of the Borough of Manhattan in New York City. The parish address was 344 East 104th Street; the
parochial school A parochial school is a private primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathematics and language arts. The ...
occupied 336 East 104th Street. The parish merged with St. Ann's Church in 2015, and Masses and other sacraments are no longer offered regularly at this church. The church was deconsecrated on June 30, 2017.


First church

The parish was established on November 12, 1899, by Michael Corrigan, then Archbishop of New York, who appointed Edmund W. Cronin, a priest of the Archdiocese, to provide spiritual care for the Italian and English-speaking Catholics of the section of the city between East 97th and 110th Streets, from Second Avenue to the East River.Remigius Lafort, S.T.D., Censor
The Catholic Church in the United States of America: Undertaken to Celebrate the Golden Jubilee of His Holiness, Pope Pius X. Volume 3: The Province of Baltimore and the Province of New York, Section 1: Comprising the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn, Buffalo and Ogdensburg Together with some Supplementary Articles on Religious Communities of Women
(New York City: The Catholic Editing Company, 1914), p.344.
To house the new congregation, Cronin rented a loft at 2008-2010 First Avenue, which he furnished as a chapel. It was there that the first Mass was celebrated on January 21, 1900. By the following June, the congregation was using a larger facility at 338 East 103rd Street. The first permanent church was erected in 1901 to the designs of the architectural firm of Lynch & Comb (of 1133 Broadway) at a cost of $25,000. The unnamed structure was described as a "1-sty stone church, 80.8×96.11" and the address Nos 336 to 343 E 104th Street. In addition, Cronin commissioned the same architectural firm to build a four-story brick and stone rectory at 344 East 104th Street for $12,000.Office for Metropolitan History 1900
"Manhattan NB Database 1900-1986,"
(10 Mar 2010), http://www.MetroHistory.com
Ground was broken for the rectory on June 6, 1900, and the structure was completed by Christmas that year. A basement church was solemnly dedicated by Corrigan on May 26, 1901, which was celebrated that year as
Pentecost Sunday Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christian holiday which takes place on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of ...
. The parish population at that point was around 5,000 to 6,000, half of whom were Italian. By 1914, the membership had risen to over 15,000 parishioners, of whom only 500 could speak English. The majority were now Italian. Active societies that year included senior and junior sections of Holy Name Societies, Children of Mary, as well as Rosary Society, Angel's Sodality, League of the Sacred Heart and the Eucharist League. The decision was made to build a full church over the original structure.


Present church

Despite the pastors of the parish being of Irish descent, as well as some lingering parishioners, the parish quickly reflected the neighboring
Italian American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...
community and the new church was planned reflecting this demographic change. The current St. Lucy's Church was built between 1914 and 1915 over the basement church to designs by the architectural firm of
Thomas J. Duff Thomas J. Duff was an architect noted for his design of a number of religious buildings for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York during its major expansion at the beginning of the 20th century. His firm was headquartered at 407 West 14th St ...
(of 407 West 14th Street) and included a school. The structure was described in the planning application (1914) as a "three-story brick church and settlement house, 80×96 ft," and the structure was planned to cost $40,000. Patrick J. Lennon succeed Cronin as
rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
in May 1911, and the cornerstone was dated to 1914. The completed church was dedicated on November 7, 1915, by the succeeding archbishop,
Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...
John Farley, with
Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...
Giovanni Bonzano Giovanni Vincenzo Cardinal Bonzano PIME (27 September 1867 – 26 November 1927) was an Italian Cardinal (Catholicism), Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Nunciature of the Holy See in Washington DC, Apostolic Delegate to Uni ...
,
P.I.M.E. The Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions or PIME ( la, Pontificium Institutum pro Missionibus Exteris; it, Pontificio Istituto Missioni Estere) is a society of secular priests and lay people who dedicate their lives to missionary activities ...
, the Apostolic Delegate of the Holy See to the United States, presiding. The school, which was administered by the
Pallotine The Pallottines officially named the Society of the Catholic Apostolate ( la, Societas Apostolatus Catholici), abbreviated SAC is a Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right for men in the Roman Catholic Church, founded in 1835 by the Roman C ...
Sisters until 1979, was "regarded by the
Fire Department A fire department (American English) or fire brigade (Commonwealth English), also known as a fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression se ...
as a model in fire exit accommodations," with every classroom having three exits.


Description

The midblock double-height Neo-Gothic church has a rendered symmetrical facade of three bays, a splayed plinth and a molded
stringcourse A belt course, also called a string course or sill course, is a continuous row or layer of stones or brick set in a wall. Set in line with window sills, it helps to make the horizontal line of the sills visually more prominent. Set between the fl ...
running above between the first and (heightened) second floors. The central bay has a depressed gable surmounted by an open bellcote with cast-bronze bell; the second story has a prominent
quatrefoil A quatrefoil (anciently caterfoil) is a decorative element consisting of a symmetrical shape which forms the overall outline of four partially overlapping circles of the same diameter. It is found in art, architecture, heraldry and traditional ...
rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' w ...
surmounted by a stop-ended
hood mold In architecture, a hood mould, hood, label mould (from Latin ''labia'', lip), drip mould or dripstone, is an external moulded projection from a wall over an opening to throw off rainwater, historically often in form of a ''pediment''. This mouldin ...
over the first floor with three square-headed windows in round-headed recesses. Flanking bays both slightly project with square-headed parapet roofs, while both second floors have three square-headed windows in round-headed recesses over gabled breakfront entrance porches. Both porch entrances are square-headed double varnished timber paneled doors set within a deep round-headed opening with quatrefoil and mouchette tympanums.


Closing

In the mid-20th century, the ethnic makeup of the neighborhood began to change dramatically, with the Italian population beginning to be replaced by the Puerto Rican community. By the time of the centennial celebration of the founding of the parish in 1999, membership had dropped to 300 parishioners. In June 2014, the Archdiocese of New York announced a major re-structuring of its parishes. The following November, the Parish of St. Lucy was one of many parishes officially designated to be merged with a neighboring parish and the church closed. The former parish and its property were merged with the Parish of St. Ann to form the new Parish of St. Ann and St. Lucy.


Pastors

*1899-1911: Rev. Edmund W. Cronin, who was born in New York City on 9 August 1863, educated at
St. Francis Xavier's College , motto_translation = Gentle In Manner; Resolute In Action , established = , religion = Catholic , faculty = 56 , enrollment = 700 , gender = Single-sex education, Boys school , language ...
, the North American College, Rome, and ordained in Rome on June 4, 1887, by Cardinal Parocchi. Rev. John L. Kenney was assigned here (presumably as assistant) in 1904. Attending to the Italian parishioners in 1904, the Reverends Marcucci and DeVivo switched assignments between here and St. Patrick's Cathedral, with Marcucci leaving St. Lucy's. The same year, the Reverend Nationio Cattogio transferred to this parish from Immaculate Conception Parish."Changes in Catholic Clergy: Archbishop Farley Announces a Number of Assignments and Transfers"
'' New York Times'', Jun 11, 1904. Retrieved 21 July 2011, Excerpt: "Martin J. Burke. from St. Joseph's to the Church of the Nativity, city; the Roy. Anthony J. Morgan, from the Church of the Guardian Angels to the Mission of ..."
*1911-?: Rev. Patrick J. Lennon *?-1998: Rev. Esviardo Palomino


References


Further reading

*Dunlap, David W. ''From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship.'' (New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.), p. 222.


External links


Interior photos


{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Lucy's Church, Manhattan Roman Catholic churches completed in 1915 Religious organizations established in 1899 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Italian-American culture in New York City Roman Catholic churches in Manhattan Gothic Revival church buildings in New York City East Harlem Closed churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York Religious organizations disestablished in 2015