This remarkably intact Gothic Revival church’s form, design, details, and history reflect the kaleidoscope of immigrants and ethnic groups which called the Lower East Side home and shaped New York over the last century and a quarter — making it not just architecturally significant but an embodiment of New York City’s and the East Village’s immigrant history.
This structure was originally built in 1891-92 and designed by Edward Wenz for the Church of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, serving the surrounding Slovak and Hungarian immigrant community. The church was the first national Slovak parish for the Slovak and Hungarian Catholics of New York and Brooklyn. Later the building was bought by the Russian Greek Orthodox National Association and became the Carpathian Russian Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas.
It served the emerging Russian immigrant community in the early and mid-twentieth century, as evidenced by the royal seal of the Russian Czars located on the church’s front gates. After 1975, the church housed San Isidoro y San Leandro Western Orthodox Catholic Church of Hispanic Mozarabic Rite, a highly unusual Western Orthodox Catholic Church – seemingly one of the very few in America, and one of the few or perhaps only to practice the Mozarabic Rite.
Churches and synagogues such as these, located on single lot sites filling the space of what was once a single home, were once found throughout the East Village and Lower East Side. They were reflective of the incredibly modest resources but bold ambitions of the immigrant communities they served. Increasingly few such structures survive today. The East Village remains woefully under-landmarked and therefore valuable historic resources such as these churches and synagogues are vulnerable to insensitive alteration and demolition.
What is the black smoke pouring out of the chimney on the Village View apartment complex on First Avenue? No other building in the neighborhood (with many oil burners) is sending out as much. Hmmm — burning trash on a Sunday morning?
72 Gallery is delighted to announce "Dead Boys 1977: The Lost Photographs of Dave Treat." This solo exhibition by Cleveland native Dave Treat chronicles the early days of the Dead Boys who were to become one of punks most nihilistic and furious bands.
Treat was asked to shoot the fledgling Dead Boys’ first ever promo shot, which yielded a now-legendary alley photo taken in the ruins of ‘70s Downtown Cleveland, which was re-created by Glenn Brown in the same location for the cover of the band’s classic Sire Records debut “Young Loud and Snotty.”
While documenting the band, Treat accidentally crafted a stunning series of portraits of the then-bankrupted city, at a time when nobody — except the advance guard of punk — saw Downtown Cleveland’s decay as a fit subject for photography.
Treat eventually entered the construction trades and raised a family in Solon, Ohio, and discovered his long-lost negatives of the Bators portraits and the band photos almost 40 years later, while cleaning out a closet.
• Drag Queen Story Hour with Harmonica Sunbeam
11 a.m.-12 p.m.
DQSH captures the imagination and play of gender fluidity in childhood, and gives kids glamorous and unapologetically LGBTQ role models. A drag queen will read inclusive books as well as storytime favorites, and lead participants in a simple craft. Sponsored by the Office of City Council Member Carlina Rivera. This program will be held in the basement community room.
• Walking Tour: Artists, Writers, Musicians of Tompkins Square
11 a.m.-12 p.m.
Tompkins Square Park has long been a center of the arts. Please join us for a fun, free one-hour walking tour, hosted by library manager Corinne Neary and local street photographer Michael Paul.
• 16mm Short Film Screenings: Artists in New York
1-1:45 p.m.
We will screen three short 16mm films, from the reserve collection of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts:
"Jackson Pollock" (1951; 10 mins.) Dir: Hans Namuth, Paul Falkenberg
From the straightforward documentation of the artist at work, and his personal explanation of what he is doing, to the original music score, everything in this film is marked with the intense quality of the late Pollock's personality.
"Artist in Manhattan" (1968; 9 mins.) Dir: Barry H. Downes, Linda Marmelstein
A portrait of Jerome Myers, a key figure in the famous Ashcan school of American art and one of the founders of the historic Armory Show of 1913. His paintings and drawings depict New York City at the beginning of the 20th century.
"Andy Warhol" (1965; 22 mins.) Dir: Marie Menken
Warhol is seen in his studio and at gallery showings surrounded by his signature pieces: Brillo and Campbell soup cartons, and his silkscreens of flowers and well-known personalities.
• Mike Edison: I Have Fun Everywhere I Go
3 p.m.
Author, raconteur and musician Mike Edison will bring a program of storytelling and music, featuring performances from across his career as a literary wild man, focusing on selections from his books "Dirty! Dirty! Dirty!" and "I Have Fun Everywhere I Go."
