Um, where's that $20 million?

Curbed reports that the back wall at St. Brigid's on Avenue B and 8th Street is coming down.

Previous St. Brigid's coverage on EV Grieve.

Report: Demolition permit for St. Brigid’s is still in effect

Could the church still be torn down?

The Villager reports:

A demolition permit for St. Brigid’s Church on Avenue B was still in effect last week, despite the promise in May of this year of $20 million from an anonymous benefactor to restore the 1849 building and the East Village parish that the Catholic Archdioceses of New York dissolved in 2004.
But an archdiocese spokesperson said last week that architects were preparing plans and contractors were drawing up documents for building permits.
“We know the demolition permit has to be withdrawn and we decided to do it all at once,” said Joseph Zwilling. “There is no construction date and we’ll make an announcement when we have one.”
Nevertheless, Edwin Torres, president of the Committee to Save St. Brigid’s, the group that went to court in 2005 to prevent the church building’s demolition, said last week that the committee was troubled that the demolition permit was still on file at the Department of Buildings.

Yes, we should all be troubled.

Highs and lows this week

Such good news this week about St. Brigid's.




Meanwhile, this is what's left of the Tower of Toys as of Friday afternoon around 4.

Days of Heaven? 7th Heaven? Little bit of heaven? Heaven sent?

Pennies from heaven? I think $20 million deserves better than "Pennies." Still, at least they didn't play up the "American Idol" winner any bigger on Page 1.

Here's the St. Brigid's piece from the Daily News.

And check out some of the reader comments:

Mrelvispelvis May 22, 2008 8:18:35 AM take that 20 Mil...divide it by 6K and think about how many PEOPLE you could feed for a year? far better idea than saving a building that is a sanctuary for child molesters and rapists !

sbtfaith@aol.com May 22, 2008 7:35:44 AM This is a miracle in the East Village and the school being saved is equally important. This church is stunningly beautiful and historically significant and for it to be torn down for some mirrored sky piercing condo or hotel that reflect history destroyed and a community no longer welcome. It would be terrible to have a Red Square with Lenin on top which looks like an NYU dorm with balconies replace the church or the old ps 64 building. The Red Square is co-owend by Mike Rosen and I had no idea he might have 20 mill to donate but I do believe him when he states he didn't donate it. I don't know who in the East Village has 20 million to spare. Mike Rosen lives in the Crista Dora and I am told that this building is the symbol of gentrification, the first and that it owes the community a community facility because of it's history as a building for the people. Ed Torres authentically sums up this miracle and it is a win for the East Village which looks more and more like a bad xerox

maribel May 22, 2008 7:01:43 AM church have a lot of values,but 20 million can be use for africa, haiti where the poor are dieying no food, that's what the bible said take care of the poor,children,widows

potobac May 21, 2008 10:30:27 PM How is one a scrooge when he regrets money being wasted on a building instead of being spent on people who need it? There are more than enough half-empty Catholic churches in the neighborhood where all parishioners of St. Brigid's could be comfortably taken care of without throwing away the money. A mass or whatever service would have just as much value at the other church and save the money for something useful.

A St. Brigid's killjoy

I exchanged e-mails with a friend in the neighborhood last night about the new life for St. Brigid's. He seemed initially happy, I thought. I mentioned that the church is going to need a lot of work, hence the $10 million for the renovations. Then, in a subsequent e-mail, he harrumphed:

The construction will really fuck up the traffic and parking for several blocks. Not sure how I'll be able to find a spot.

I suggested that he sell his car.

St. Brigid's as it was...and as it will be...

I had mentioned Paul Dougherty, a longtime video maker, in a post on April 24. Given the good news about St. Brigid's, let's take a look at the church's history via Paul's work....

Wow -- St. Brigid's is SAVED (hallelujah!)

Just what the neighborhood needed. Amazing news.

The City Room has the story:

Donor Gives $20 Million to Save St. Brigid’s
By Sewell Chan

An anonymous donor has come to the rescue of St. Brigid’s Roman Catholic Church in the East Village, saving the building — which has presided over Tompkins Square Park since 1848 — from demolition and making it possible for the structure to be reopened as a parish church.
The Archdiocese of New York announced this morning that a donor had come forward with an “unexpected but very welcome gift” after a private meeting with Cardinal Edward M. Egan, the archbishop of New York.
The gift includes $10 million to restore the building, at 119 Avenue B; $2 million to establish an endowment for the parish “so that it might best meet the religious and spiritual needs of the people living in the community”; and $8 million to support the St. Brigid’s School and other Catholic schools in need.
Cardinal Egan expressed gratitude in a statement:
This magnificent gift will make it possible for Saint Brigid’s Church to be fittingly restored with its significant structural problems properly addressed. The two additional gifts, to create an endowment for the parish and to support the parish school, are a powerful testament to the donor’s goodness and understanding. He has my heartfelt gratitude, as I recently told him at a meeting in my residence.
The church was built by Irish immigrants who had fled the Potato Famine in the 1840s. Financial hardship has evidently been a longstanding part of the parish’s history. An 1889 article [pdf] in The Times reported that the parish was finally consecrated after a 40-year effort to repay its debts.
The church has witnessed momentous changes in the neighborhood. In 1991, the pastor of the church and two other clergymen were arrested on disorderly conduct charges when they crossed police lines to deliver food to protesters holed up in an apartment near Tompkins Square Park, which was the site of clashes between protesters and the police. In 1995, Pope John Paul II visited St. Brigid’s School — which was already suffering from declining enrollment — during a pastoral visit to the United States.
The church’s main building closed in 2001 because of structural problems, and the final Mass, in the basement of the Catholic school next door, was held in 2004. Despite fund-raising efforts, protests by parishioners and lamentations by Mary Gordon, a writer and memoirist who teaches at Barnard College, the church was scheduled to be closed. But supporters of the church filed a lawsuit, and in 2006, a day after demolition work began, a Manhattan judge issued a temporary restraining order halting the work.
Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said that a precise date for reopening the parish had not yet been set.
“We obviously need to talk to priests in the area,” Mr. Zwilling said in a phone interview this morning. “It’s also going to take some time to restore the building. This is something that’s going to take months, at the very least, if not a couple of years. We can’t really tell yet. We’ve got architects who are starting to develop plans. Then we’re going to have to hire construction firms to do the work. There are significant structural problems that need to be repaired.”

Holy Fucking Shit. (Oops. Sorry God. But c'mon!)



[Updated] So this is all sinking in a little bit. Jeremiah floated the idea that perhaps Matt Dillon was the guardian angel. Interesting idea. (Does he have this kind of money? I helped the cause by buying multiple copies of Wild Things.) For whatever reasons, Dillon has been an ardent supporter to help save the church from the evil Catholics who likely wanted to turn it into another NYU dorm or condo to help pay for legal bills for you know what. (I'm Catholic, or was, so I know what.) OK, sarcasm aside, good for Dillon for helping out the Committee to Save St. Brigid's. And thank goodness for them. Without all their work, the church would have been destroyed years back.

Updated: Scaffolding collapse at St. Brigid's

The high winds we had here last night helped bring down the scaffolding in front of St. Brigid's on Avenue B. At 6:45 a.m., cops had things blocked off from 8th Street to 7th Street. And several news crews were on hand preparing to go live with a report. (Putting a reporter in front of fallen scaffolding makes for riveting local news!) No injuries were reported.

In any event, this will only help the Archdiocese of New York try to sell the idea that the church needs to be razed. For an NYU dorm, we're sure. Or some fancy high-rise condos.

Bob Arihood's excellent Neither More or Less has many more photos (like the one he took above). While you're at his site, look around at this amazing photography and narrative of the neighborhood.

Saving St. Brigid's

To be honest, plenty of things need saving in the East Village -- St. Brigid's chief among them. There's a "keep the flame alive" party tonight at Solas. Find the info at the Save St. Brigid's Web site. (Plus, you may see Matt Dillon there...uh, at Solas, not the Web site.)