For 173 years the steeple of the South Bushwick Reformed Church stood over Bushwick Avenue, and as NY1 put it, helped the neighborhood find its way home. On Friday afternoon it burned.
A three-alarm fire broke out at the church, at 855 Bushwick Avenue, shortly before 1:30 p.m. on June 19, according to the FDNY and News 12. By the time it was out, the main worship hall was severely damaged, the spire and steeple were gutted, and the rectory was soaked. The steeple had only recently been repaired after a storm. Building officials said they would decide by the weekend whether what is left has to be demolished. One firefighter suffered minor injuries, and the FDNY says the cause is still under investigation.
The church was built in 1853 in a Greek Revival style with a Georgian-inspired tower. It has been a New York City landmark since 1968 and on the National Register of Historic Places since 1982. It is one of the oldest buildings in Bushwick, older than almost every brownstone, bar and warehouse around it.
City leaders, including State Attorney General Letitia James, who visited the site, have pledged to help rebuild, and James pointed to expected grants and government support. The people actually on the hook are a congregation that, by Gothamist’s count, now numbers a few dozen.
A landmark designation protects a building’s facade from developers. It does not pay to rebuild a sanctuary after a fire, and a few dozen worshippers cannot absorb that cost on their own.
Two days after the fire, the congregation held Sunday service online because it had nowhere else to go. A GoFundMe set up to help had raised a little over $2,000. The congregation is asking the neighborhood to rally, which for now means the GoFundMe and showing up for a parish that has outlasted everything else on the block for 173 years. Whether the grant money the attorney general mentioned actually materializes is what happens next, after the cameras leave.
