St. Brigid's Church will stay standing, at least for a little while longer. A day after crews erected scaffolding and punched through a wall, a state Supreme Court judge on Friday temporarily halted the demolition of the 158-year-old building, which once served as a haven for Irish famine refugees. READ MORE »

"The court properly found that the disposition of the church property and funds at issue were matters within defendant's ecclesiastical authority, and, accordingly, that the relief sought by plaintiffs, i.e., an order mandating that the funds in question be used to restore the subject property for use as a church, would impermissibly involve the court in the governance and administration of a hierarchical church. "Plaintiffs' promissory estopel claim would, in any event, be unavailing for lack of a specific promise to keep the subject church building in operation as a church if funds were collected for that purpose."

We need your help now: Spread the word that St. Brigid's, the Famine Church of the Lower East Side -- a unique jewel of Irish history in America -- is in grave peril and must be preserved. Contact fraternal and cultural organizations, media, politicians, the Archdiocese of New York, your family and friends -- anyone who cares about our history. It's time for all to step up and get involved to save St. Brigid's.

Thank you all for helping to Save St. Brigid's.

Committee to Save St. Brigid's Church
280 E. 7th Street
New York, NY 10009
www.savestbrigid.com

Contact:
Carolyn Ratcliffe 212-674-4057
Committee to Save St. Brigid's Church
nymagnolia@mindspring.com

The Ancient Order of Hibernians has come out in favor of the preservation of St Brigid's church in Manhattan. In a letter to New York's Cardinal Edward Egan, the organization's national president, Ned McGinley, called the 1848 structure "unique" and said that is was his "fervent hope" that it be saved.
     Local parishioners and conservationists have been fighting a rearguard action to stop the archdiocese's plan to demolish the church, which was built by and for Famine immigrants. READ MORE »

For its defenders...the current battle over St. Brigid's church -- built by Irish immigrants early in New York's 3rd century, when it had just a fraction of the populations of London and Paris -- is all about the layers of history. READ MORE »

Irish Americans, no more than any ethnic community, have rarely been as one on any question; nor perhaps are they ever likely to be. But occasionally, something comes along that strikes a particular chord with the great majority.
     Securing the future of St. Brigid's church, built by and for Famine immigrants in New York City in 1848, appears to be one such issue. Nobody has taken a poll on how people feel about that East Village landmark. However, the fact that more than 500 turned out last week for a Midtown Manhattan fundraiser for the Save St. Brigid's Committee is a pretty strong indication that the campaign to stop demolition is gathering pace.
     Conservatives, moderates, progressives and those with no discernible political views have expressed their backing for the preservationist cause. READ MORE »

Villagers traveled north of 14th St. last Thursday to Connolly's near Times Square to attend "Bards for St. Brigid's," a benefit to raise funds for the legal defense effort to save historic St. Brigid's Church on Avenue B from demolition. READ MORE »

"The first thing our ancestors did when they emigrated here was build a church," said Patti Kelly, a stained-glass artist and an organizer of a benefit on Sunday to raise money to save St. Brigid's, a Roman Catholic church on 8th Street and Avenue B, across from Tompkins Square Park. Known as the Irish Famine church,St.Brigid's was built in the late 1840s by poor Irish immigrants who had settled on the teeming Lower East Side to be close to the docks where many worked in backbreaking labor.
     Today their Carpenter Gothic church is under an order of demolition from the Archdiocese of New York, which says it is structurally unsound. Angry parishioners and neighbors contend that the more important consideration for the archdiocese is that the church's neighborhood, today called the East Village, is one of the hottest in New York.
     ...The church and its school, which take up an entire block front, constitute what real estate experts say may be the largest remaining developable site facing a major park in Manhattan. READ MORE »