UWS Community Board Says No To Local Church's Demolition Request

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Community Board 7 voted Tuesday night to reject an Upper West Side church's bid to remove its landmark status and clear its path for demolition.

The board members voted 24 to 13, with seven members abstaining, to keep the landmark designation of West-Park Presbyterian Church at 165 W. 86th St.

The vote from the full board comes around a month after the board's Preservation Committee also voted to deny the church's hardship application.

The next step in the process will now be for the 132-year-old church to go in front of the landmarks Preservation Commission on June 14.

While the Upper West Side community board's vote is only an advisory decision, the Commission's decision will actually decide the matter.

During Tuesday's meeting, the topic of how much money the church has raised and how it could raise more in the future was brought up again.

In the last decade or so, there has only been about $2 million raised for renovations, while the estimate between the dueling sides has placed the total cost to fix the church at anywhere between $15 and $50 million.

Council Member Gale Brewer, who spoke during Tuesday's meeting and has been a strong advocate in keeping the church's landmark status, said that money would be more easily raised if the Center at West Park theater company took over the space.

The theater company has been using the church for performances for years.

Many board members blamed West-Park Presbyterian for not doing more over the years to keep the church in good condition.

A spokesperson from the church told Patch that this new development and stripping of the landmark status would "ensure a new spiritual home."

"This plan ensures a new spiritual home for worship and community space that will help West-Park continue to be a resource for our neighborhood and fellow New Yorkers," the spokesperson said.

In a letter shared exclusively with Patch, 58 religious leaders wrote to the Landmarks Preservation Commission pushing for the removal of the landmark status at the Upper West Side church.

The West-Park Presbyterian Church has fallen into a continuing state of crumbling disrepair over the decades.

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

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.

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 building getting completely demolished.

The landmark 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.

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.

Here's the full Community Board 7 meeting from Tuesday night.

Read More:

• Demolition Of Crumbling 132-Year-Old UWS Church? Local Board Votes No
• Opening Meeting Set For Upper West Side Church's Fate
• UWS Church Pushes To Lose Landmark Status To Save Building: Report