| The Church of the Nativity | |
| Location Town: | Manhattan, New York City |
| Location Country: | US |
| Architect: | 1832 building: Town & Davis (Alexander Jackson Davis, J. H. Dakin, and James Gallier)[1] 1970 building: Genovese & Maddalene[2] |
| Client: | Catholic Archdiocese of New York |
| Construction Start Date: | 1968 (for new church) |
| Completion Date: | 1832(old church) 1970 (new church) |
| Closing Date: | August 1, 2015 (merged with nearby Most Holy Redeemer) |
| Date Demolished: | 1968 (old church) 2022 (new church) |
| Cost: | $240,000 (for 1968 church) |
| Style: | 1832 building: Greek Revival 1970 building: Modernist |
The Church of the Nativity was a Catholic parish church in the Catholic Archdiocese of New York, located at 44 Second Avenue between Second and 3rd Streets in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was established in 1842 and permanently closed in 2015.[3]
Nativity parish was founded by Rev. Andrew Byrne. Byrne purchased the former Second Avenue Presbyterian Church, which was dedicated by Bishop John Hughes on June 5, 1842. Two years later, Byrne was named Bishop of Little Rock. George McCloskey was pastor for over twenty-years, until in 1869 he resigned to become vicar general for his brother, Bishop William McCloskey of Louisville.[3] When St. John the Baptist Church on West 30th Street burned down in 1847, pastorship of St. John's parish was assumed by the Church of the Nativity until St. John's was rebuilt in 1851.[4] On January 20, 1912, a fire broke out at Nativity, destroying the "historic organ" and interior.[5]
In November 2014, the archdiocese announced that the Church of the Nativity was one of 31 of its parishes which would be merged with other parishes.[6] The church celebrated its final Mass on July 31, 2015. The church was closed on August 1, 2015, and merged with nearby Most Holy Redeemer Parish.
The church was deconsecrated in June 2017.[7] The church building was sold in 2020, for $40 million to real-estate developer.[8] It had been suggested by some parishioners, that the church should be turned into a shrine for Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement and candidate for sainthood. The Archdiocese said they would look into the idea, but the 2017 deconsecration and subsequent sale in 2020, seemed to make it clear that the idea would not move forward.[9]
The original painted-timber Greek Revival sanctuary was built in 1832 at 48 Second Avenue[10] as the Second Avenue Presbyterian Church[11] and was designed by the prominent New York firm of Town & Davis, which then included Alexander Jackson Davis, J. H. Dakin, and James Gallier. It consisted of a Greek Doric portico and two-stage steeple.[1] In 1842, it was sold to the newly formed Nativity of Our Lord parish and became the Church of the Nativity. In 1966, the discovery of structural defects forced the closure of the church. In 1967, the parish council decided to demolish the old church and construct a new one. The old church was demolished in the spring of 1968. [12]
The Modernist church was built at 44 Second Avenue from 1968 to 1970[1] [13] for $240,000 to the designs of Genovese & Maddalene.[2] It has been described as "starkly institutional" and "a modern architectural cartoon exhibiting a gross idea with no detail."
The parish included within its territory the headquarters of the Catholic Worker Movement and was the site of the Funeral Mass of its co-founder, Dorothy Day, in December 1980.[14]
The church was deconsecrated in 2017 and sold to developers. In 2022 the deconsecrated building was demolished.[15]
Notes