St. Lucy's Church is a former

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

of the Parish of St. Lucy, which operated under the authority of the

Archdiocese of New York The Archdiocese of New York () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in the New York (state), State of New York. It encompasses the boroughs of Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island in New York ...

in the

East Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem, or , is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City, north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, Fifth Avenue to the west, and the East and Harlem Rivers to the eas ...

section of the

Borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The parish address was 344 East 104th Street; the

parochial school A parochial school is a private school, private Primary school, primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathem ...

occupied 336 East 104th Street. The parish merged with St. Ann's Church in 2015, and Masses and other sacraments are no longer offered regularly at this church. The church was deconsecrated on June 30, 2017.

First church

The

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

was established on November 12, 1899, by

Michael Corrigan Michael Augustine Corrigan (August 13, 1839May 5, 1902) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the third archbishop of New York from 1885 to 1902. Early life Michael Augustine Corrigan was born August 13, 1839, in N ...

, then

Archbishop of New York The Archbishop of New York is the head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, who is responsible for looking after its spiritual and administrative needs. As the archdiocese is the metropolitan see of the ecclesiastical province encomp ...

, who appointed Edmund W. Cronin, a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

of the Archdiocese, to provide spiritual care for the Italian and English-speaking Catholics of the section of the city between East 97th and 110th Streets, from Second Avenue to the

East River The East River is a saltwater Estuary, tidal estuary or strait in New York City. The waterway, which is not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island, ...

.Remigius Lafort, S.T.D., Censor
The Catholic Church in the United States of America: Undertaken to Celebrate the Golden Jubilee of His Holiness, Pope Pius X. Volume 3: The Province of Baltimore and the Province of New York, Section 1: Comprising the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn, Buffalo and Ogdensburg Together with some Supplementary Articles on Religious Communities of Women
(New York City: The Catholic Editing Company, 1914), p.344. To house the new congregation, Cronin rented a loft at 2008-2010 First Avenue, which he furnished as a chapel. It was there that the first

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

was celebrated on January 21, 1900. By the following June, the congregation was using a larger facility at 338 East 103rd Street. The first permanent church was erected in 1901 to the designs of the architectural firm of Lynch & Comb (of 1133 Broadway) at a cost of $25,000. The unnamed structure was described as a "1-sty stone church, 80.8×96.11" and the address Nos 336 to 343 E 104th Street. In addition, Cronin commissioned the same architectural firm to build a four-story brick and stone rectory at 344 East 104th Street for $12,000.Office for Metropolitan History 1900
"Manhattan NB Database 1900-1986,"
(10 Mar 2010), http://www.MetroHistory.com Ground was broken for the rectory on June 6, 1900, and the structure was completed by Christmas that year. A basement church was solemnly dedicated by Corrigan on May 26, 1901, which was celebrated that year as

Pentecost Sunday Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christian holiday which takes place on the 49th day (50th day when inclusive counting is used) after Easter. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles of Je ...

. The parish population at that point was around 5,000 to 6,000, half of whom were Italian. By 1914, the membership had risen to over 15,000 parishioners, of whom only 500 could speak English. The majority were now Italian. Active societies that year included senior and junior sections of Holy Name Societies, Children of Mary, as well as Rosary Society, Angel's Sodality, League of the Sacred Heart and the Eucharist League. The decision was made to build a full church over the original structure.

Present church

Despite the

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

s of the parish being of Irish descent, as well as some lingering parishioners, the parish quickly reflected the neighboring

Italian American Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...

community and the new church was planned reflecting this demographic change. The current St. Lucy's Church was built between 1914 and 1915 over the basement church to designs by the architectural firm of Thomas J. Duff (of 407 West 14th Street) and included a school. The structure was described in the planning application (1914) as a "three-story brick church and settlement house, 80×96 ft," and the structure was planned to cost $40,000. Patrick J. Lennon succeed Cronin as rector in May 1911, and the cornerstone was dated to 1914. The completed church was dedicated on November 7, 1915, by the succeeding archbishop,

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

John Farley, with

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Giovanni Bonzano, P.I.M.E., the

Apostolic Delegate An apostolic nuncio (; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international organization. A nuncio is ...

of the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

to the United States, presiding. The school, which was administered by the

Pallotine The Pallottines, officially named the Society of the Catholic Apostolate (), abbreviated SAC, is a Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right for men in the Roman Catholic Church, founded in 1835 by the Roman Catholic priest Vincent Pallotti, ...

Sisters until 1979, was "regarded by the

Fire Department A fire department (North American English) or fire brigade (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a fire company, fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organi ...

as a model in

fire exit An emergency exit in a building or other structure is a special exit used during emergencies such as Structure fire, fires. The combined use of regular and emergency exits allows for faster Emergency evacuation, evacuation, and emergency exit ...

accommodations," with every classroom having three exits.

Description

The midblock double-height

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

church has a rendered symmetrical facade of three bays, a splayed

plinth A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...

and a molded

stringcourse A belt course, also called a string course or sill course, is a continuous row or layer of stones or brick set in a wall. Set in line with window sills, it helps to make the horizontal line of the sills visually more prominent. Set between the f ...

running above between the first and (heightened) second floors. The central bay has a depressed

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

surmounted by an open

bellcote A bellcote, bell-cote or bell-cot is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells. Bellcotes are most common in church architecture but are also seen on institutions such as schools. The bellcote may be carried on brackets projecting from ...

with cast-bronze bell; the second story has a prominent

quatrefoil A quatrefoil (anciently caterfoil) is a decorative element consisting of a symmetrical shape which forms the overall outline of four partially overlapping circles of the same diameter. It is found in art, architecture, heraldry and traditional ...

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' wa ...

surmounted by a stop-ended

hood mold In architecture, a hood mould, hood, label mould (from Latin , lip), drip mould or dripstone is an external moulded projection from a wall over an opening to throw off rainwater, historically often in form of a ''pediment''. This moulding can be t ...

over the first floor with three square-headed windows in round-headed recesses. Flanking bays both slightly project with square-headed

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

roofs, while both second floors have three square-headed windows in round-headed recesses over gabled breakfront entrance porches. Both porch entrances are square-headed double varnished timber paneled doors set within a deep round-headed opening with quatrefoil and mouchette tympanums.

Closing

In the mid-20th century, the ethnic makeup of the neighborhood began to change dramatically, with the Italian population beginning to be replaced by the Puerto Rican community. By the time of the centennial celebration of the founding of the parish in 1999, membership had dropped to 300 parishioners. In June 2014, the Archdiocese of New York announced a major re-structuring of its parishes. The following November, the Parish of St. Lucy was one of many parishes officially designated to be merged with a neighboring parish and the church closed. The former parish and its property were merged with the Parish of St. Ann to form the new Parish of St. Ann and St. Lucy.

Pastors

*1899-1911: Rev. Edmund W. Cronin, who was born in New York City on 9 August 1863, educated at St. Francis Xavier's College, the North American College, Rome, and ordained in Rome on June 4, 1887, by Cardinal Parocchi. Rev. John L. Kenney was assigned here (presumably as assistant) in 1904. Attending to the Italian parishioners in 1904, the Reverends Marcucci and DeVivo switched assignments between here and St. Patrick's Cathedral, with Marcucci leaving St. Lucy's. The same year, the Reverend Nationio Cattogio transferred to this parish from Immaculate Conception Parish."Changes in Catholic Clergy: Archbishop Farley Announces a Number of Assignments and Transfers"
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', Jun 11, 1904. Retrieved 21 July 2011, Excerpt: "Martin J. Burke. from St. Joseph's to the Church of the Nativity, city; the Roy. Anthony J. Morgan, from the Church of the Guardian Angels to the Mission of ..." *1911-?: Rev. Patrick J. Lennon *?-1998: Rev. Esviardo Palomino

References

External links

Interior photos

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Lucy's Church, Manhattan Roman Catholic churches completed in 1915 Christian organizations established in 1899 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States Italian-American culture in New York City Roman Catholic churches in Manhattan Gothic Revival church buildings in New York City East Harlem Closed churches in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York Christian organizations disestablished in 2015 1899 establishments in New York City 2015 disestablishments in New York (state)