By Gus Saltonstall
A pair of Upper West Side churches together received more than $75,000 in funding for renovations and repairs through a grant program.
The grants were provided by the New York Landmarks Conservancy, which is a nonprofit that dispenses funding for sacred sites throughout the state.
Here are the two churches on the Upper West Side that received the new infusion of money earlier this week.
The Grace & St. Paul’s Church: 123 West 71st Street, between Amsterdam and Columbus avenues.
The UWS church was awarded $38,000 to help fund its roof replacement.
The Grace & St. Paul Church was built in 1882, and was one of the first buildings to exist on West 71st Street. The church’s most recent major renovation was in 1989, and the building serves over 5,600 people annually outside of its core congregation.
Some of those programs include hosting block association meetings, AA meetings, concerts, and volunteer events.
The Trinity Lutheran Church of Manhattan: 164 West 100th Street, between Amsterdam and Columbus avenues.
The UWS church was awarded $40,000 to help with framing and window replacement, as well as wall replacement work.
The church was first constructed in 1908, and serves around 2,000 people annually outside of its core membership through programs aimed at helping homeless LGBTQ+ youth, annual holiday meals, and clothing drives.
You can learn more about the New York Landmarks Conservancy grant program — HERE.
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Great to see landmarks doing something useful.
This isn’t the NYC Landmarks Commission.
It’s a start, but I wish it was more. Period restoration is very expensive. Renovation is not the same thing and something is lost when you stray from the original design and materials.
It was wonderful to see Trinity Lutheran Church get this grant. I was baptised and confirmed at this church and attended it until I moved to Port Jefferson in the early 1960’s.. I sang in the choirs and my Grandmother, Father, Sister and Brother had their funerals there. My Mother and Father were Pillars of the Church, she a head of the Ladies Aid, and he as head of the Church Council. In their younger days they used to perform in Plays in the Church basement theater, and they were married there in 1931.
So pleased for Trinity Lutheran! My company performs concert operas there every few months, and they are the most welcoming and helpful folks!
Please renovate the Broadway Presbyterian Church on W114th and Broadway. The place is falling down.
I often walk past Broadway Presbyterian Church and am not aware of any structural or architectural problems. What part of it is falling down?
I wonder if this is a hint that LPC is NOT going to give a similar grant to West-Park Presbyterian, and an indication that they are going to grant the Hardship Application.
The West 71st Street Block Association is thrilled to learn of this grant to help restore the church roof. Grace & St. Paul’s is a crucial element of our community – warm, nurturing and inclusive! We happily hold our meetings and gatherings there and are grateful for this financial help to a beautiful and historic church.
Hooray! Good news at last!
I suppose I am in the minority here, but I cannot see the justification behind giving taxpayer money to religious institutions regardless of how nice their buildings might be, particularly since these institutions by virtue of their tax-free status are already heavily subsidized.
The renovation money the article refers to is from a nom-profit organization ( Landmarks Conservancy) – *not taxpayer money
In 2024, based on their financial statement, they received $40,000 in government grants, of a total revenue amounting to $4.4M, so less than 1% of their income is public funding.