Hello. I have been in contact with you over the years, most recently in 2001, when I called you to see if you had any ideas about restoring the photo archive of the architecture firm I work for (an offshoot of Halsey, McCormack & Helmer) after our offices in the World Trade Center were destroyed. 

I write to you now because I have heard from a friend that St. Brigid's Church on Avenue B is going to be converted into apartments. While I know this lacks the drama that a threatened demolition would give the situation, it would certainly mean the destruction of the church's interior and integrity. The church was designed in 1848 by Patrick Keely who (as I'm sure you already know) built many, many churches in New York and New England, including Holy Cross in Boston and St. Francis Xavier in Manhattan. Inside the church, I am told, are lovely stained-glass windows, a "fantastic" pipe organ, and a reredos carved by Keely himself; the sculpted faces of some of the Irish shipwrights who built the church decorate the pillars of the building. The area at the time was home to the first wave of Irish immigrants escaping the famine, and St. Brigid's served that community.

Most of the parish is Latino today. The church was closed a few years ago because of structural problems (in the Villager, August 6 - 12, 2003, they say the "building boom in the neighborhood might have affected changes in the water table that contributed to the structural problem of the east wall" of the church), and the parish has been attending mass in the St. Brigid's school building on the corner. Recently, I am told, Cardinal Egan told the parishioners to "go find another church in the neighborhood," and closed the church, even though the parish had raised over $100,000 towards its repair. I'm not sure how much work has gone on, but looking at the NYC Department of Buildings website, I see that the filings were done just about a year ago (on September 11, 2003, actually). 

Anyway, this really steams me. I work on 13th Street and every time I walk past that old Presbyterian church that was turned into apartments I think of how sad it is that what was effectively a public space is public no more. While it doesn't look as if the plan for St. Brigid's will be to turn it into a luxury apartment building - the Villager article I cited above says the diocese wants the building to become a Cabrini Medical Center nursing home (and one of the project managers I work with thinks that since the filing for the work shows it as tax exempt, the use has to be something with a non-profit affiliation) - it's still a sour fate for a place meant to be a house of worship, and a real loss for the architectural history of the East Village. 

So, I wonder if this is something you would write an article about. We are writing letters to the NYC Landmarks Commission and the Landmarks Conservancy, and we are going to leaflet the neighborhood to get the community involved - but I've seen nothing in the press about this except for the little article in the Villager. I find this a little odd. If you can't write an article about St. Brigid's, I would appreciate any advice you'd have on how to tackle this. 

I can be reached at mfirmani@manciniduffy.com, or 646-495-7136. You might also want to talk to my friend, Patty Kelly; she's a stained glass artist with a studio in the neighborhood, and she's done a lot of restoration work on churches in the city (including on Patrick Keely's St. Mary, Star of the Sea in Brooklyn); her email is pkellystainedglass@yahoo.com and her number is 917-582-2274. The woman who started this all is Carolyn Ratcliffe, who's been a force in saving East Village gardens; her number is 212-674-4057 and her email is nymagnolia@mindspring.com. 

Thanks very much for your time. 

Best wishes,

Mary Firmani