“Endangered Sanctuary-Only House of Worship in Battery Park City Slated to Close in January”

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To the editor:

Re the recent article “Endangered Sanctuary-Only House of Worship in Battery Park City Slated to Close in January” (BroadsheetDAILY November 17)

In response to the detailed and informative article by Mathew Fenton it seems to me that despite the best efforts and intentions of the Parishioners, other  Battery Park City residents, CB1, local politicians and others, plus the involvement of the BPCA and LeFrak, that the Archdiocese of New York had no intention of renegotiating the lease and keeping the Chapel open:

—The prohibitive rent increase by LeFrak in 2014 that the Archdiocese did not contest

—LeFrak reaching out to the Archdiocese about the Archdiocese contacting the BPCA to work out a reduction in LeFrak’s payments to the BPCA which would be passed along to the Chapel the the Archdiocese did not act on

It appears that there was a complete lack of desire on the part of the Church to negotiate a favorable lease renewal which could have kept the Chapel open. This assured the closure of the Chapel-what an unfortunate situation.

Thank you,
Marilyn R. Masaryk
BPC Resident

1 thought on ““Endangered Sanctuary-Only House of Worship in Battery Park City Slated to Close in January””

  1. I read the article on St. Josephs Chapel with great interest, although not a member of the parish I had a connection through my wife who not only did service there for many years but sat on the restoration committee. I always felt the chapel got short shrift in the bigger scheme of things, this was the only chapel that had religious artwork dedicated to the crews of the planes that went down on 9-11 but was a participant in the events just like the other religious institutions in the area but was never really recognized as such.

    I was fortunate enough to be allowed by Father Joe to be permitted to photograph many of the pieces of art for a project I was doing so I have a record of the amazing works that were placed in the chapel. I was also fortunate to view the consecration of the chapel by Cardinal Egan which was quite fascinating to me.

    So I sadly say goodbye to an institution that survived 9-11 but couldn’t survive church politics.

    Larry Leventhal
    BPC Resident

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