Photos by EVG reader Kait
The gutting of the former Iglesia Bautista Emmanuel is underway at 256 E. Fourth St. between Avenue B and Avenue C.
Workers arrived last week for a church-to-condo conversion. According to DOB permits, the four-story structure will receive two additional floors to accommodate six residences, presumably condos, based on the square footage.
The plywood includes a rendering of the all-new residences ... StudioSC is listed as the architect of record.
The church had been on the market for several years and changed hands last fall for $2.95 million.
The new owner is listed as an LLC, per public records.
As for history, there's plenty of it here...
According to Daytonian in Manhattan, the property, dating to 1859, was once part of the estate of Petrus Stuyvesant. It later became known as the Lemberger Shul.
In 1925, the Lemberger Congregation purchased the buildings and hired architect James J. Millman to design a shul, or synagogue, on the site. The congregation took its name from its native city, Lemberg, at the time the center of the Lwów Voivodeship of Poland. The city is known today as Lviv, Ukraine.The new building was faced in red brick and trimmed in stone. Millman's understated design relied mostly on Gothic arches over the openings. Projecting brickwork between the second and third floors, and on either side of the central rondel above the entrance provided interest. There were two entrances, one above a short, centered stoop, and another to the right for the women worshipers. It is unclear whether the rondel was always bricked in, or if it originally contained a rose window.In either case, it almost certainly displayed a Magen David, or Star of David. Set within the parapet is a stone Decalogue, representing the tablets of Moses.
In the early 1970s, the synagogue became home to the Spanish-language Iglesia Bautista Emmanuel.
As Daytonian noted (and the post is definitely worth a read):
Iglesia Bautista Emmanuel remains in the converted synagogue — the Christian cross in the rondel happily coexisting with the Jewish Decalogue above it.
Based on the rendering, neither of those elements will co-exist at the address any more.
18 comments:
Oh that's a crying shame. I would've thought they'd want to keep at least some of the historical elements of the original building. This is a very sad development.
Less churches, more apartments.
Agree with Trixie above
Seems more like a demo and new construction than a conversion
That’s not a conversion, that’s a demolition.
The rendering looks great. It’s hard to save these old brick structures as they don’t allow for the amount of light and caliber of modern building systems (plumbing, electric, etc) that condo buyers want. I think this is the best case scenario. Electrical efficiency will be greatly improved
Disgusting and ugly DEMO of the Church. Not religious, but anything over 100 years old should be kept. Character is important.
Good to see more apartments coming to the neighborhood
the rondelle where the cross is now was absolutely a stained glass window with a star of david. you can see it in the 1940s tax photos.
https://1940s.nyc/map/photo/nynyma_rec0040_1_00386_0012b#17.15/40.722587/-73.981507
This was my mom's church from 2002 til about 8 years ago. She told me it took forever for it to get sold. Lots of synagogues from back in the day got brought by Protestant congregations. Now som are rich peoples homes.
"Good to see more apartments coming to the neighborhood"
REBNY member say what?
Good to see trolls/developers commenting here. More apartments +more trolls.
we’re overpopulated enough. we should create
more gardens.
Looks like there was a stone Torah inlayed on the crest of the facade
There’s a window with the Star of David remaining at the back- if you zoom in on the second photo, the interior window beyond the entry stairs. Curious if the original inscription remains behind the sign for the church.
I am all for historic preservation. But, realistically, what can be done wiht an outdated and likely poorly maintained religious structure. The members of the synagogue and the subsequent church did not care enough about the building to keep it. Many making comments on here loathe the idea of losing a church, but who would keep it up? Who would pay the bills? The condo design looks good. Its size and choice of materials will make a good fit in the neighborhood.
A shame to lose that facade, especially for six lousy rich-people apartments.
Overcrowd the neighborhood as much as possible. And don't provide the infrastructure or services that a neighborhood needs. And put a coffee place in every other retail space. So everyone in the nabe is a desperate depressed person hooked on caffeine with 3.3 square feet of personal space.
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