The beautiful old marble steps at the St. Paul & St. Andrew United Methodist Church on 86th street and West End Avenue have been replaced by new marble steps, and the sidewalk has been completely replaced. It’s a blessing to the neighborhood and the church. And yet, I’m a little sad about it.
We’ve heard complaints from neighbors about the sidewalks around the church, so it’s definitely an upgrade, but the steps always had a romantic quality: deeply bowed in the middle, it looked like the footsteps of thousands of parishioners over more than a hundred years had caused them to sag — a palpable sense of religious devotion. (Photos of the old steps are at right and below.)
Elizabeth Jensen, who runs communications for the church, disabused us of that notion, however. The steps sagged mostly because the metal substructure was falling apart. Because the church is a landmark, they had to replace them with identical materials, so they had to raise money for a lot of white marble. Elizabeth sent the description and photos below.
St. Paul & St. Andrew United Methodist Church, a New York City landmark-designated building, finally has gleaming new marble steps, carved from a quarry near Barre, VT, after the original ones, quaint though their deep curves were, had to be replaced out of safety concerns.
Groundbreaking on the project was Oct. 5 and the project proceeded in fits and starts, due to the wicked winter weather, which took the project off-line for six weeks, and the need to raise several hundred thousand dollars.
We are grateful to all who donated: our members, who contributed the majority of funds, as well as the Park Avenue Trust ($100,000), Landmarks Conservancy ($35,000), all those who donated their musical talents and those who bought tickets to our benefit concerts ($40,000+) and the patrons who bought lemonade from our kids last summer (several hundred $.) We are still in need of a bit more money but we are closing in.
We hope our neighbors appreciate the new sidewalks, as well!
Check out the photos Elizabeth sent below, and read here about some unique church services for sex workers held in the church’s basement.
Just think what it would cost to build the pyramids today.
Great to see and thanks for the interesting story about the steps’ history….I always assumed they were “charmingly” worn, too. Both that church and the adjacent Episcopal church could use a little TLC. ($ and prayers never hurt, either!)
I’m so glad the homeless can finally sleep on a flat surface with those steps….the curvature of the old ones must’ve been a real pain in the back.
you beat me to it …I was gonna write something similar
Money well spent – the poor now have a much better platform from which to continue begging. Ah always nice to see institutions who have their priorities in order.
This church runs a nightly homeless shelter (with partner B’nai Jeshrun) along with the Westside Campaign Against Hunger and numerous other outreach programs. The homeless lingering on the steps are often waiting for a hot meal from the kitchen. The church has the right to fix their building and an obligation as a landmark to do so correctly. And I think beautifully. But if the posters complaining about the homeless people who sleep on the steps are so distressed by them I suggest that you
invite them in to sleep in your apartment. It must be more comfortable than the steps, marble or not.
Yeah, Irene…now the homeless (and stupid dogs owned by UWSiders) urinate all over these beautiful steps. I see it every day. Isn’t it so super cool to help the homeless, and get to see them clog up that corner whilst begging for drug money? I hope you let them shoot up in YOUR apartment.
Gee whiz, Derprene! Where has all the love gone?
Sex workers?
Among the many social outreach programs of the church is to provide healthy home cooked meals for the GEMS (Girls Education and Mentoring Services) which helps to get young women off the street and away from sexual exploitation.
We hope not to stop at the new steps either; new doors to welcome ALL people regardless of their housing status will hopefully be the next thing to greet our neighbors.