CB3 to hear request of support for low-income housing at former 2nd Avenue church site

Members of CB3's Land Use, Zoning, Public & Private Housing Committee will hear a request for support tonight from the Cooper Square Community Land Trust to acquire the former Church of Nativity Church for use as low-income housing.

The church here between Second Street and Third Street closed in July 2015 as part of a consolidation reportedly due to changing demographics and a shortage of priests available to say mass. The Church of the Nativity merged with Most Holy Redeemer on Third Street.

The Cooper Square Community Land Trust is proposing 116 units of low-income housing along with a community center and meditation center in honor of Dorothy Day. (The Friends of Nativity had previously proposed a Dorothy Day Shrine and retreat center with services for the homeless at 44 Second Ave. Read more about that proposal here.)

The parish was first established in 1842 and for time was a Jesuit mission parish. Dorothy Day, the co-founder of the Catholic Worker, was a parishioner. Her funeral mass was held there in 1980.

Last December, parishioners held a prayer service on Second Avenue to ask the Archdiocese of New York to turn over the church to the land trust.

Here's part of the coverage via The Villager last Dec. 7, including comments from Valerio Orselli, project director for the Cooper Square Community Land Trust:

Joseph Zwilling, spokesperson for the Archdiocese of New York, said ... that the Church of the Nativity belongs to Most Holy Redeemer, since the two merged, and is not owned by the archdiocese.

“In parishes where there is unused property, the archdiocese works with parish leadership to determine the best course of action,” he said. “Nothing has been determined at this time for Nativity Church.”

“We understand they have many responsibilities. This is one of 18 churches,” Orselli said of the number of former archdiocese churches currently for sale on the open market. “We are not expecting action tomorrow. But I’m hoping they will meet with us sooner rather than later. We are trying to make the project proposal concrete. It will take at least a couple of years. All we are asking now is for the church not to sell the building to a developer.”

There has been speculation that the block from the church to Second Street will eventually yield to a luxury retail-residential complex.



The Cooper Square Community Land Trust has been preserving affordable housing in the Lower East Side for more than 20 years, and in collaboration with the Cooper Square MHA owns, manages and operates 21 buildings.

The CB3 committee meets tonight at 6:30 at University Settlement, Speyer Hall, 184 Eldridge St. between Rivington and Delancey.

Previously on EV Grieve:
As the Church of the Nativity closes for good tonight, take a look at the original structure

Parishioners fight to save the Church of the Nativity on 2nd Avenue

Parishioners hope their prayers are answered with former Nativity space on 2nd Avenue

Remembering Dorothy Day, with a call for a shrine in her honor on 2nd Avenue

Tonight at 6, the Church of the Nativity is holding a special mass in honor of Dorothy Day at 44 Second Ave. between East Second Street and East Third Street.

Day was a journalist and social and political activist in the Lower East Side where she worked with the poor and founded The Catholic Worker. Today the Church refers to her as a "Servant of God" as the canonization process has begun.

Day's granddaughter, Martha Hennessey, will share readings from Dorothy's writings throughout the service. She will also talk about the parish's request for a Dorothy Day shrine after the mass, outside of the church.

The Church of the Nativity is slated close Aug. 1. After months of fighting the archdiocese for a chance to appeal, parishioners are now asking the Archdiocese to build a shrine for Dorothy Day within Nativity, or to build a chapel/retreat center within the new building should the church be demolished. Nativity was the parish of Dorothy Day.

The New York Times has more on this in an article from Monday titled Invoking the Radical Spirit of Dorothy Day to Fight a Church Closing.

The expected closure comes amidst a massive reorganization of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York.

Under the plan, the church, founded in 1832, would merge with Most Holy Redeemer on East Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.

The conventional wisdom is that the Archdiocese will sell the property for retail-residential development.

One passer-by told the Times: "If you ask me, I think they’re trying to close it to make a high-rise condo so they can bring more money to the neighborhood."

And we've heard from people who figure the block from the church to East Second Street will eventually all be luxury housing…



As for Dorothy Day, here's more from here granddaughter in the Times:

Ms. Hennessy, who lives nearby at the Catholic Worker’s Maryhouse when she is in New York, said she felt “a disconnect” between the drive to canonize her grandmother and the decision to close her church. She said she hoped a way could be found to honor Day and her legacy, perhaps using the vacant rectory building, if not the church itself.

"In the East Village, with all the affluence, the party atmosphere and the materialism, we still have poverty," Ms. Hennessy said. "They are doing their best to hide it, but if there was a shrine dedicated to the history of her work, that might be more helpful. It would raise the question of economic refugees."

Previously on EV Grieve:
Parishioners fight to save the Church of the Nativity on 2nd Avenue

Questions and concern continue about the Church of the Nativity's future on 2nd Avenue

[EVG file photo]

The Church of the Nativity on Second Avenue between East Second Street and East Third Street is on Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan's closure list as the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York undergoes a massive reorganization.

Under the plan, the church, founded in 1832, would merge with Most Holy Redeemer on East Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.

Nativity parishioners continue their efforts to save the church from a sale and subsequent demolition...

There's a meeting tonight with a representative from the Archdiocese... via the EVG inbox...

This will be the FIRST "official" parish meeting regarding the merger since the announcement was made on November 2, 2014.

Every meeting and discussion we (the parishioners) have had so far has taken place outside of the church and in the social hall because we weren't allowed to have an open discussion inside our church.

This is an opportunity to ask important questions and let them know why our church should remain open. It’s imperative that we all attend so that we may be taken seriously.

Church of the Nativity. 44 Second Ave. between East Second Street and East Third Street

Wednesday, March 25, 7 p.m.

The parishioners have created a Facebook page, a Twitter account, a blog and a YouTube channel. And you can sign a petition here.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Parishioners fight to save the Church of the Nativity on 2nd Avenue

Fight continues to save the Church of the Nativity

[Outside Church of the Nativity]

As previously reported, the Church of the Nativity on Second Avenue between East Second Street and East Third Street is on Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan's closure list as the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York undergoes a massive reorganization. (Under the plan, the church would merge with Most Holy Redeemer on East Third Street between Avenue A and Avenue B.)

Meanwhile, some of the church's parishioners continue to do what they can to keep the church open. (They have created a Facebook page, a Twitter account and a YouTube channel.)

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that "at least 18 parishes are now seeking recourse with the Vatican to overturn or limit the scope of the imminent merger."

And the Church of the Nativity is among the parishes at various stages of the appeals process.

Last Tuesday, two parishioners visited the Archdiocese of New York to read Nativity's decree letter, the official document that states the reasons they want to close the church. According to the Keep Nativity Open Tumblr, the reasons given are a change in demographic and a decline in priests.

Per Keep Nativity Open:

We have been speaking with canon lawyers and according to canon law, a decline in parishioners and decline in priests are not valid reasons to close a church. We are seeking recourse with the Vatican.

The Archdiocese cannot sell our building within a two-year period

We are fighting the merger, and the closing of Nativity. If we do merge with Most Holy Redeemer, Nativity’s parishioners need to stay united because we might have a chance to keep the building from being sold in two years. (The Archdiocese can’t sell the building for another two years). If Nativity’s parishioners are separated and divided, the Archdiocese can easily sell our building. But if we are united, we may have a chance to save Nativity when that time comes.

As for a timeline on all this. Back to the Journal:

An appeals process can take years, according to canon lawyers and church advocates around the U.S. The process, they say, is a complicated, highly technical one, following a strict timeline and involving several benchmarks set by canon law, the regulations set by the Catholic Church.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Parishioners fight to save the Church of the Nativity on 2nd Avenue

Parishioners fight to save the Church of the Nativity on 2nd Avenue

Earlier this month, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan announced the largest reorganization in the history of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York.

In total, 112 parishes will be merged to create 55 new parishes. On this closure list: Church of the Nativity on Second Avenue between East Second Street and East Third Street.

The parishioners have started a social media campaign in hopes of keeping the church open. They have created a Facebook page, a Twitter account and a YouTube channel.



Developers have to be drooling over this prime piece of East Village real estate... a one-level structure in close proximity to three new residential buildings, including Jupiter 21 and that ugly box thing that Ben Shaoul developed.