Next Tuesday, March 10, the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission LPC) will hear an application to designate the Church of St. Mary on the Lower East Side as an individual landmark.
Local residents, in partnership with the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative, have been campaigning for the past couple of years to protect the historic church at 440 Grand St. In December, the LPC voted to calendar the application. The LES Preservation Initiative is urging community members to show up in person to testify. The hearing begins at 9:30 a.m. at 253 Broadway. You can also testify remotely or send written testimony to: testimony@lpc.nyc.gov. Written testimony must be submitted by Monday at noon.
St. Mary’s was built in 1833, making it one of the oldest Catholic churches in New York City. City Council member Christopher Marte has said the Archdiocese of New York has signaled it will not stand in the way of designation. In its research brief, the LPC highlighted both the Church of St. Mary’s architectural and historical significance. It was founded in 1826 to meet the needs of the growing Irish immigrant population in Lower Manhattan and today, “remains an important epicenter of Catholic life on the Lower East Side.” In the midst of native and anti-Catholic discrimination, the first church building on Sheriff Street was deliberately burned in 1831. The new church, in its current location on Grand Street, was completed in 1833, featuring a Greek Revival facade. Thirty years later, the church hired an architect, Patrick Charles Keely, to enclose the portico and update the facade in the Romanesque Revival style. Keely became a prolific designer of churches in New York and across the Northeastern U.S.
Click here for more details about the events that led to the community campaign to ensure that St. Mary’s remains on the Lower East Side for generations to come.
