St. John Chrysostom's Church (Bronx, New York)

The Church of St. John Chrysostom
General information
Architectural style	Romanesque Revival
Town or city	Morrisania, The Bronx, New York City
Country	United States
Completed	1900 (for church);[1] 1913 (for church interior)[2] 1913 (Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes)[2]
Technical details
Structural system	Masonry brick
Design and construction
Client	Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York

St. John Chrysostom's Church is a Roman Catholic parish church under the authority of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, located at 985 East 167th Street and and Hoe Avenue, Morrisania, The Bronx, New York City, near Southern Blvd and Westchester Ave.

Parish history

The parish was established in 1899 for a mostly Irish congregation from the parish of St. Augustine by the Rev. Bernard F. Brady.^[2] At that time, the neighborhood had a large Jewish population from Russia, Bohemia and Poland.^[3] In 1913, "the Catholic population of the parish [was] about 1100, and the value of the church property [was] $180,000, with a debt of $72,000. A school is (1914) in process of construction.”^[2] Assistant priests in 1913 included the Rev. Joseph J. McAndrew and the Rev. James J. Halligan.^[2]

By the mid twentieth century, the neighborhood was mostly Latino, with immigrants from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, as well as African Americans.^[3] During the downturn of the South Bronx in the 1970s and 1980s, the area around "Hoe Avenue & 167th Street was considered part of the 'Fort Apache' section of the South Bronx. Throughout the tumultuous riots, the buildings surrounding St. John's burned and violence was at an all time high. St. John's however, stood strong and became a safe haven for children to come to. It was often referred to as 'Little House on the Prairie.'"^[3]

Anthrax victim Kathy T. Nguyen had her funeral at St. John Chrysostom Roman Catholic Church on November 5, 2001. “Nguyen, a native of Vietnam, died of inhalation anthrax in New York on October 31.”^[4] Also, the funeral of NYPD Officer Daniel Enchautegui of the 40th Precinct in the South Bronx was held in this church, which presided over by Cardinal Edward M. Egan. During the service, Mayor Michael Bloomberg posthumously promoted the officer to the rank of detective first-grade.^[5]

Buildings

The church was built 1900.^[1] In 1913, "it was beautifully decorated, and two new altars as well as a handsome shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes were erected."^[2] The school was built 1914.^[1] The rectory address is 985 East 167 St., Bronx, NY 10459.

Description

The double-height-over-sunken-basement brick twin-towered church with stone trim was built in 1900. The church front elevation is symmetrically divided into three parts and consists of a nave with six-bay clerestory flanked to both sides by six-bay lean-to aisles, which terminate in the bookended square-in-plan single-bay four-stage towers, projecting a bay in depth to flank the gabled three-bay façade of the nave. The central gabled façade has three equal round-headed entrance openings addressed by a flight of stone steps spanning between the towers.

Pitched nave roof with pyramidal copper roofs with cross finials to towers. Walling has reddish-yellow-brick over rusticated stone splayed plinth/basement walling and a corbelled-stone-over-round-headed-arcade-band of brick. Openings all are round-headed with moulded stone architraves and reveals, some with stop-block-labeled hoodmoulds, except basement openings are openings, which are pointed-arched.

Gabled center of main façade has blind stone arcade to mid-height; entrance openings flanked with moulded responds and continuous imposts continued though entrance opening as transoms, with double-leaf timber paneled doors. Stained-glass tympanum overlights to entrances; gable apex features stained-glass rose window; copper cross finial above. Each exposed tower elevation has single window with hood to first stage; bipartite window with hood to second stage; blind oculus to third stage; and tripartite with hood and painted timber louvers to (belfry) fourth stage, which is above cornice level and has slightly setback corners.

The seven-bay four-story orange brick schoolhouse with stone trim was built 1914. Main façade is detailed with central three-bay breakfront that to ground floor is accentuated in four-centre-arched stone entrances. Ground-floor is double-height and defined from rest of structure with separating stone stringcourse and second floor sillcourse. A modillioned cornice conceals its roof. Windows are square-headed bipartite timber sashes with stone sills and lintels

St. John Chrysostom's School

The school address is 1144 Hoe Avenue, Bronx, New York, 10459. The Dominican Sisters of Sparkill staffed the parish school since its opening in 1914.^[1][3] In the 1940s, enrollment was over a thousand.^[3] Presently, the school has around 600 students with approximately two sections per grade.^[6]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} See Thomas J. Shelley, The Archdiocese of New York: the Bicentennial History, (New York: Archdiocese of New York / Strasbourg: Éditions du Signe, 2007), p.297.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Remigius Lafort, S.T.D., Censor, The Catholic Church in the United States of America: Undertaken to Celebrate the Golden Jubilee of His Holiness, Pope Pius X. Volume 3: The Province of Baltimore and the Province of New York, Section 1: Comprising the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn, Buffalo and Ogdensburg Together with some Supplementary Articles on Religious Communities of Women.. (New York City: The Catholic Editing Company, 1914), p.387-388.
3. ^ ^{a b c d e} Official School Website: History (Accessed 31 March 2010
4. ^ “Anthrax Victim Buried” Photo By Shaul Schwarz/Getty Images ‘’Life Magazine’’. (Retrieved 1 April 2011)
5. ^ Manny Fernandez, For N.Y.P.D., 2nd Funeral in 8 Days, New York Times, December 14, 2005.
6. ^ Bronx Catholic Blog (Accessed 7 February 2011)

Coordinates: 40°49′35.5″N 73°53′28.3″W / 40.826528°N 73.891194°W / 40.826528; -73.891194