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LPC Designates Entire St. Michael's Campus a Historic Landmark

By Emily Frost | April 12, 2016 5:37pm
 The church, rectory and parish hall were all landmarked by the LPC Tuesday.
St. Michael's Church and Campus Landmarked
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UPPER WEST SIDE — The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted Tuesday to landmark the entire campus of a historic local church that residents and preservations have long advocated to preserve.

St. Michael's, a 125-year-old Episcopal Church on Amsterdam Avenue at the northwest corner of West 99th Street, was landmarked, along with the parish house and rectory, according to LPC. 

“These beautiful buildings create a cohesive and unique complex that makes a striking contribution to the Upper West Side streetscape,” said LPC Chair Meenakshi Srinivasan in a release.

The church was part of the LPC's backlog of properties that it threatened in 2014 to remove completely from landmark status consideration, but then voted this past February to prioritize.

In 1807, parishioners of Trinity Church organized St. Michael’s Church "to serve wealthy downtown residents who had built summer houses in the Bloomingdale section of Manhattan," according to the LPC.

As the neighborhood population expanded in the 1800s, the Gothic-style wood church was replaced by a stone Romanesque Revival style church, completed in 1891 by architect Robert W. Gibson. The "picturesque" parish hall was completed in 1901 and the rectory in 1913, the LPC said. 

The church congregation and head minister had a different perspective on the extent of the landmarking of the campus than residents, a local preservation group and City Councilman Mark Levine.

The congregation, as well as head minister, Rev. Kate Flexer, worried landmarking the parish hall and rectory would impede updates it wanted to make to increase their size and accessibility to better serve a growing community.

"We are wary of the potential extra hurdles ahead of us in implementing some of the changes and upgrades our buildings will need in the years to come," said Flexer in an email.

The church's mission is not incompatible with preservation, however, she added.

"Most members of our congregation are in general agreement with the purposes of the Commission and the legislation which created it, and our parish leadership is committed to working collaboratively with the Commission and its staff," said Flexer. 

For the preservation advocacy group LANDMARK WEST!, which pushed hard for the church and its campus to be officially recognized as landmarks throughout decades in limbo, Tuesday marked a significant victory after decades, the group said.

"It's always been a 'landmark' with its beautiful bell tower commanding the corner of 99th Street and Amsterdam, and of course its famous Tiffany glass," said Kate Wood, the organization's president. 

"But it's important that the LPC also recognized it as a distinguished ensemble and also voted to protect its parish house and rectory," she said. 

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