Opening Meeting Set For Upper West Side Church's Fate

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — The fate of an Upper West Side church hangs in the balance as the first rally and community board meeting surrounding its possible demolition will happen on Thursday.

The West-Park Presbyterian Church at 165 W. 86th St., completed in 1890, has fallen into a continuing state of crumbling disrepair.

The congregation has dwindled to 12 people and has had a sidewalk shed surrounding the holy building for the last 21 years.

The church was told it would have to spend $50 million to make the needed repairs.

In March, the church made the decision to sell the house of worship to developer Alchemy Properties, who plans to turn it into an apartment tower.

Crucially, the redevelopment of the space into a residential building will also include a 10,000-square-foot church on the ground floor, and the congregation would also get nearly $9 million to outfit the new space.

However, the sale is contingent on the original 132-year-old building getting completely demolished.

This is where the church's landmark status comes into play.

The West-Park Presbyterian Church was made an official New York City landmark in 2010.

At the time of the Landmarks Preservation Commission hearing 12 years ago, 56 people spoke in favor of designating the church and 13 people opposed it — including the congregation's pastor.

The designation creates more hurdles for any renovation work done in the past or future, and also makes the property less likely to be bought by a new buyer.

Following the approval of the sale to Alchemy, an attorney for the church filed a "hardship application" with the Landmarks Preservation Commission to remove its designation.

The removal of its designation would clear the path for its demolition.

"In the face of our steep financial challenges to address the church building's safety and maintenance needs, the congregation's only viable choice to support West-Park's ongoing mission is to pursue the sale of the property and the application to the Landmarks Preservation Commission to demolish the existing building on the grounds of financial hardship," a spokesperson for West-Park Presbyterian Church told Patch.

Since 1965, there have only been 19 hardship applications filed with the Landmarks Preservation Commission, of which 13 have been approved, four denied, and two never voted on.

On Thursday, the first two major events involving the church's push to remove its landmark status will take place.

There will be a special Community Board 7 Preservation Commission meeting to vote on whether the committee supports the hardship exemption request.

The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. and will include an application presentation, a special unspecified speaker, questions from the board members, and a public comment period.

You can sign up for the meeting here.

The committee's decision will be presented at the full board meeting in June, and then forwarded to the Landmarks Preservation Commission for consideration.

A little over eight hours before the CB7 meeting, Council Member Gale Brewer will hold a press conference and rally to "save the West-Park Presbyterian Church."

Brewer believes that the hardship exemption request should not be granted, and also voted to approve its landmark status in 2010.

Brewer will hold the rally in partnership with members of The Center at West Park, which is a nonprofit that has rented out the church since 2010.

It hosts a community performing arts center in the church and also has worked to raise around $2 million for repairs that would stave off the need to demolish the building and turn it into a residential tower.

The rally will start at 10 a.m. on the southeast corner of West 86th Street and Amsterdam.