St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church is currently under threat due to the proposed Empire Station Complex.
*Built in 1872 (with the spire completed later in 1890) and designed by the famed American architect Napoleon LeBrun, one of the early skyscraper architects in New York City. He designed the south tower of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Building at Madison Square, the Home Life Building on Broadway, the first Masonic Temple in Manhattan, and a fabulous former fire station on Lafayette Street.
The Gothic-style church is of sandstone, with arched windows and doorways, along with stained glass windows including a rose window. On the 30th Street side, an original rectory was replaced by a more modern building which formerly housed the Capuchin Monastery of the Church of St. John. According to the Environmental Impact Study report, ” The church meets Criterion C as an example of Gothic-inspired ecclesiastical architecture. In an Environmental Review letter dated December 14, 2020, LPC determined that the church also appears to be eligible for NYCL designation.” It sits on the same block as the Penn Station Service Building and is listed as having “Significant Adverse Impact from Development on Site 2,” stated as a building that “would be removed for the proposed below-grade expansion of Penn Station.”
*Text and image via Untapped New York
STATUS Threatened
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