Historic Brooklyn Brownstone, Church Get $30K Grant For Repairs

BROOKLYN, NY — Two historic properties in Brooklyn were among a group of New York City landmarks that got some much-needed help this week.

A brownstone in the expanded Stuyvesant Heights Historic and a church in South Bushwick each were given $30,000 grants from the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission.

The grants, given to five properties this year, are part of the Historic Preservation Grant Program, which helps low-to-moderate income homeowners and nonprofit organizations make repairs to their landmark properties.

“I am thrilled that this year’s grant recipients will get the funding they need to restore their landmark buildings,” said Landmarks Preservation Commission Chair Sarah Carroll. “Property owners are critical to the success of preservation and LPC’s Historic Preservation Grant Program helps us support low to moderate-income homeowners and non-profit organizations in their preservation efforts and bring pride of place to these communities.”

For the Bed-Stuy brownstone, found on Macon Street near Lewis Avenue, the money will be used to restore its facade and repair the stoop. The South Bushwick Reformed Church, which sits on Bushwick Avenue, the $30,000 will go to stabilizing the church's spire.

Along with the Brooklyn properties, the grants went to two homes in the Bronx and the Louis A. and Laura Stirn Mansion in Staten Island.

Each grant recipient was given between $15,000 and $35,000 to restore, repair or rehabilitate the facades of their building and technical assistance from the LPC staff.

The grants are funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG).

It is not the first time a Bed-Stuy landmark was awarded the funding. In past years, the grant helped restore the Stuyvesant Heights Christian Church.

“As a grant recipient we were overjoyed!” the church's reverend, Sharon Codner-Walker, said. “We felt that our presence in this community mattered and we were not overlooked, forgotten or bypassed. Our hopes and joys were once again restored by the authentic caring and compassion wrought in the representatives of LPC who took us by the hand and walked with us in this process of restoration and revitalization. We will forever be in gratitude to the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission.”