Media

St. Vincent de Paul in the Press

 

“As champions of the classical tradition as a vital cultural resource, the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art urges the New York City Landmarks Commission to hold a hearing in consideration of landmarking the historic and architecturally significant St. Vincent de Paul church on West 23rd Street.”

 

“The Church of St. Vincent de Paul in New York which has served French-speaking Catholics is on the verge of closure. The church is struggling to remain open as regular attendance continues to decrease and the overall infrastructure of the church deteriorates.”


“A diverse group of French, Belgian and Swiss expatriates have joined with French-speaking African and Haitian immigrants in a continuing effort to landmark the church.If the church is lost, they say, the diverse community that it serves — and its social programs — will also be lost.”

 

“Dedicated in 1869, the church is a shadow of its former self. Stained-glass windows depicting the story of France are chipped, and plastic bins lay across the floor to collect rain from the leaky roof while yellow cautionary tape marks areas damaged by the water.”

“Opponents of the closure are attempting to get St. Vincent de Paul’s (SVdP) landmarked, which is something they continue to do despite repeated declines by the Landmarks Preservation Commission to oblige them. Even France’s president Nikolas Sarkozy weighed in on behalf of French-language worshippers via a letter sent to Mayor Bloomberg.”

 

“Le bras de fer entre l’archidiocèse et les fidèles de l’église francophone menacée de fermeture n’en finit pas. Ces derniers ont récemment embauché une société de lobbying.”

 

 

 

“‘The consequences are so grave, so overwhelming, they don’t even want to hear about it,’ said Sylvestre Kouadio, a 51-year-old Ivorian taxi driver from the Bronx who directs the choir at St. Vincent. ‘The church has become a second home, a home away from home for Africans who speak French. This is the anchor.’”

 

  • New York Times announcement of Edith Piaf’s marriage at St. Vincent de Paul – September 21, 1952

 

Announcement of Edith Piaf's marriage at St. Vincent de Paul, New York Times September 21, 1952

 

“Today, it continues to provides a role to a niche group of Catholics, as many attendees are French-speaking immigrants from Africa and Haiti, traveling in from the outer boroughs to Chelsea.”

 

“Moreover this church is that rare thing in America, an integrated worship place, with African, Haitian, Swiss, Belgian, Canadian, French and American members of every economic level, all involved in providing a beacon of hope in our city. This is truly something well worth preserving….”

 

“Despite its history-making social and religious innovations and its architectural interest, St. Vincent de Paul has never been designated a landmark. The Catholic Church continuously threatens to close the French-speaking church and rumors of demolition persist.”

 

“From City Hall to the Statue of Liberty to Restaurant Daniel, the French have shown a lot of love for New York. The French spirit so busily abroad in New York for the last century and a half has had its respite in a church on 23rd Street, and one wishes it would stand forever.”

 

“A special treasure of St. Vincent de Paul are the stained glass windows , created, as a more modest source puts it, “in the Tiffany style.”  They follow  a unique, unashamedly national program, narrating the history of  France and her Faith. The conversion of the Franks, the early bishops, Joan of Arc, Louis XIII, St. Vincent de Paul, Lourdes: it is a magnificent progression of events famous and obscure executed in a harmonious classical style perfectly adapted  to this church.”