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The First Church of Christ, Scientist in Manhattan is a 1903 building located at Central Park West and 96th Street in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City. The building is a designated New York City landmark.[3]

Architecture

The building, designed by Carrère & Hastings, was completed in 1903, is described by New York Times architectural historian Christopher Gray as "one of the city's most sumptuous churches."[4] The style reminiscent of the churches of Nicholas Hawksmoor, a combination of English Baroque and French Beaux-Arts detailing. The building featured stained-glass windows by John LaFarge. The window over the front door was named "Touch Me Not" and was based on John 20:17, depicting Jesus' encounter with Mary Magdalene outside the tomb.[5]

It featured mosaics, gold-plated chandeliers, marble floors, curved pews made of Circassian walnut, and elevators called "moving rooms" because they were large enough to hold 20 people.[4][5]

The church was designated a New York City landmark in 1974, and is a contributing property to the federally designated Central Park West Historic District.[6][7][8][9]

Building use

In 2004 the building was sold to the Crenshaw Christian Center and the Christian Science congregation merged with the congregation of the Second Church of Christ, Scientist.[4][10][5]

In June 2014, after almost ten years in the building, the Crenshaw Christian Center sold the building to 361 Central Park L.L.C. for $26 million. The new owner planned to convert the 47,000-square-foot structure to condominiums.[5] However, the condominium plan was rejected by the zoning appears board. In January 2018 the Children's Museum of Manhattan announced that it had acquired the building.[11] In June 2020 the renovation plan was approved by the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission.[12]

Congregation

The congregation was organized in 1886 by Augusta Emma Stetson. The congregation gave Stetson the lot adjacent to the Church on West 96th St, where she lived in a neo-Georgian house. Stetson's house was demolished in 1930, replaced by a "mild(ly) Art Deco" apartment building designed by Thomas W. Lamb.[4]

The congregation met in rented space before construction of the church.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ "New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-06-17. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  3. ^ "New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-06-17. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  4. ^ a b c d e Gray, Christopher (15 February 2004). "The First and Second Churches of Christ, Scientist; A Tale of 2 Warring Churches, and of One Woman". New York Times. Retrieved 5 January 2018.
  5. ^ a b c d Barron, James (26 September 2014). "A Difficult Passage from Church to Condominium". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 September 2014.
  6. ^ New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission; Dolkart, Andrew S.; Postal, Matthew A. (2009). Postal, Matthew A. (ed.). Guide to New York City Landmarks (4th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-28963-1., pp.145-146
  7. ^ White, Norval & Willensky, Elliot (2000). AIA Guide to New York City (4th ed.). New York: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 978-0-8129-3107-5., p.366
  8. ^ Dunlap, David W. (2004). From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-12543-7., pp.74-74
  9. ^ "About Us" Archived 2016-10-24 at the Wayback Machine on the Crenshaw Christian Center East website
  10. ^ Gray, Christopher. "Streetscapes: First Church of Christ, Scientist; 2 Congregations Unite, and No. 2 Becomes No. 1". New York Times (December 25, 2005)
  11. ^ "Children's Museum Plans to Move Into Historic Church Building on Central Park West". West Side Rag. 2 January 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  12. ^ Gunts, Edward (12 June 2020). "FXCollaborative wins approval to convert Carrère and Hastings church into children's museum". The Architect's Newspaper. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
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