Neighbors to rally Sunday to protect Most Holy Redeemer Church

Neighbors, parishioners and local preservation groups are planning another rally this Sunday at 2 p.m. to protect the historic Most Holy Redeemer Church at 173 E. Third St. between Avenues A and B. 

As we've been reporting (see links below), advocates have been campaigning to have it designated a landmark. Services here have been halted, and the property appears to be moving toward closure and possible sale, prompting growing concern from parishioners and preservationists alike. 

Tomorrow, organizers will call on the Archdiocese to keep the church from being shuttered or sold, and on the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission to move forward with landmark designation. 

The rally will take place outside the church.

Most Holy Redeemer — founded in 1844 by the Redemptorist Fathers and completed in 1852 — has been closed to the public since Sept. 1. Parishioners have been directed to St. Brigid on Avenue B. 

Village Preservation, the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative and the East Village Community Coalition have also urged the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission to protect the historic church, an architectural anchor of the neighborhood's 19th-century Kleindeutschland community.

The church is one of the East Village's oldest and most prominent religious buildings — and was once among the city's tallest and largest.

Find the petition about landmarking here. You can follow the Facebook group Save Most Holy Redeemer Historical Church here.

 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• At what may be the final Mass at Most Holy Redeemer

• At the prayer vigil for Most Holy Redeemer 

• Push continues to landmark East Village's historic Most Holy Redeemer 

• Most Holy Redeemer to halt regular masses this fall amid uncertainty about its future

• Grassroots effort to preserve Most Holy Redeemer grows with weekly vigils