Avengers Assemble To Save UWS Church Arts Center

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — A community arts center at a landmark Upper West Side church at risk of displacement has a secret weapon in its fight for survival: The Avengers.

Specifically, Black Widow actor Scarlett Johansson and Incredible Hulk actor Mark Ruffalo will join Julianna Margulies to lead a staged reading of "Network," an award-winning screenplay, to benefit the nonprofit arts center at the West-Park Presbyterian Church which is under threat of being displaced by the owners, Debby Hirshman, the director of the Center at West Park, told Patch.

For the uninitiated, West-Park Presbyterian Church — an official city landmark — has been around for 135 years, the most recent 20 of them covered in scaffolding near 86th Street and Amsterdam Avenue. The red-stone church building is the home of The Center at West Park, a nonprofit arts and culture hub that has turned the church into an affordable space for cultural programming.

However, in the past two years, the building's owners have been in talks to sell the building to developers, who could potentially displace the thriving arts community and knock the building down, according to the nonprofit's "Love Our Landmarks" campaign.

In 2023, there was a series of hearings with the city, where developers requested permits to demolish the building, which were denied for the time being in early 2024, according to several reports.

This is the kind of neighborhood fight that usually draws block associations, local councilmembers and community boards to the front lines. But, because Ruffalo was interested in using a sculpting studio in the church, the fight is playing out a little differently.

"One of the very significant developments in May 2023 was that Mark Ruffalo was referred to me because he was sculpting and wanted a sculpting studio," Debby Hirshman, the director of the Center at West Park, told Patch. "He had the very same reaction as I did when he learned the whole story about the hearings that had taken place."

Since then, he has invited his friends into the space, who have since spread the word, Hirshman said.

"When you look at how we got to the present, it is that each of these people brought new people into the importance of this space," Hirshman said.

So far, Hollywood stars including Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Matthew Broderick, Laurence Fishburne, Julianna Margulies, Fisher Stevens, and Kenneth Lonergan have been involved in activism for the nonprofit.

This Monday, Johansson, Fisher Stevens, Keegan-Michael Key and Josh Hamilton will also join the ranks of supporters, according to the flyer.

"They understand that, with arts and culture being an economic driver in New York, spaces like the Center at West Park are fundamental to the future generation of artists who will perform on Broadway," Hirshman said. "Preserving those in New York is critical to also continuing to build audiences."

"Network," which premiered in 1976 as a film, was adapted for the stage by Lee Hall and made its Broadway debut in 2018 and earned a Tony Award for Bryan Cranston. The full cast will participate in a talkback following each performance, Hirshman said.

Monday's performance will be the latest public program in The Center’s “Love Our Landmarks: Save West Park Presbyterian Church” campaign, created to raise awareness of The Center’s ongoing efforts to protect and preserve the 135-year-old church. All funds raised at the event will support the Center’s programs and preservation efforts.

Tickets start at $75 for the staged reading, but there are a number of pay-what-you-wish tickets as well.

West-Park Presbyterian Church is located at 165 West 86th St. on the Upper West Side.

For questions and tips, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.