Arguably one of the most intriguing churches in the neighborhood sits on East Fourth Street near Avenue D. It's currently the San Isidoro y San Leandro Western Orthodox Catholic Church of the Hispanic Mozarabic Rite.
I don't know much about the building. I've poked around here and there on the Internet for more details. From a post at
Slavs of New York:
Few specifics are available about the building’s history, but it was built in 1895 as the first home of the Roman Catholic St. Elizabeth of Hungary parish. When that parish moved uptown to Yorkville, the building became the Russian — Greek Orthodox Chapel of the Holy Trinity serving the Russian and Greek embassies. Later, it became the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas, which eventually moved to East 97th Sreet.
Today, the building is part of the Western Orthodox Benedictine Friars of the Hispanic Mozarabic Rite, though it still bears the royal seal of the Russian Czars on its façade.
Anyway, it's one of those places that I worry about,
as I like to do. There was a small fire at the church in February 2011. (A previous post about the church is
here.)
There are no longer any services at the church, which mainly seems to be used for rummage sales. I've bought a few books and records here. A book and record will go for about 60 cents. (I overheard the priest say that they were raising money to start up services again. They will need to sell
a lot of books and records... and they will also gladly accept donated clothes and stuff.)
Given all the new construction in the immediate area (
here and
here and
here), you have to wonder how long the church can hold out before a developer comes along.
Which is why a photographer with better skills than mine should go document 117 years of history.
