Hellish NYC church demolition breaks noise rules, works overnight without permit
Complaints were filed about work being done without permits at Church of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. Helayne Seidman
An Upper East Side parish performed nighttime demolition work on its church without a permit as it tries to sell the property, The Post has learned.
Kalman Chany, a lay trustee at the Church of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, and others in the neighborhood, noticed workers removing items, including religious artifacts, from the shuttered church at 213 East 83rd St.
In addition, they said, demolition work was performed inside after dark, with historic stained-glass windows being removed.
Officials from the city Department of Buildings visited the church on the night of May 29 after receiving “several 311 complaints,” said agency spokesman Andrew Rudansky. “Our inspectors observed that construction workers were performing an interior gut renovation” and “removing construction debris from the site with the use of construction vehicles.”
Neighbors reported work was done at night at Church of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. Obtained by The New York Post
The agency had “no record of any permits issued for this work” at the church and rectory, spanning 211-215 East 83rd Street, and a partial stop-work order was issued, he said.
The parish was slapped with two summonses for illegal work without a permit and failure to institute safety measures to protect the public, and hit with a total of $7,500 in fines, which were paid.
The Archdiocese of New York denied any illegality.
“There is no illegal demolition,” said Joseph Zwilling, spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York. “There is no ‘gut renovation.’ There is the removal of items of liturgical, historical, and monetary value for storage for future use.”
The alleged demolition comes despite ongoing litigation opposing the 2016 merger of the parish with other parishes in the area, and as the merged parish prepares for the imminent sale of St. Elizabeth.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan issued a decree in 2016 merging St. Elizabeth with St. Monica’s and St. Stephen of Hungary. The combined parish is based in St. Monica’s at 413 East 79th Street.
Work went on while a challenge to the church’s merger with other parishes is pending. Obtained by The New York Post
Kalman Chany, a lay trustee at Church of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, is upset about demolition work going on at the church. Obtained by The New York Post
Brooklyn-based developer Robert Saffayeh is in contract to buy the St. Elizabeth church and rectory for $11.75 million, according to a purchase and sale agreement.
The Manhattan Supreme Court approved the sale May 6. Saffayeh told The Post he doesn’t own the property yet or know about any demolition at the site.
The sale of the church, Zwilling said, “is not final.”
“I think the cardinal set out to raise a bunch of money,” said John Cornell, a long-time St. Elizabeth parishioner. “And so his idea was to sell as many church properties as he could.”
Chany and Cornell filed legal proceedings with the Vatican to oppose the merger in 2016 and the deconsecration in 2017, arguing St. Elizabeth was a spiritual home to deaf Catholics.
The church held masses led by a pastor fluent in American sign language, along with a deaf choir.
A Brooklyn developer is in contract to buy the church and its rectory. Obtained by The New York Post
They also filed a civil action in Manhattan Supreme Court challenging the church’s sale to Saffayeh due to the ongoing Vatican cases.
On Thursday, a judge scheduled a July 17 court date for the civil action.
The fact that the parish is proceeding with demolition with no decision yet on the three-church merger, “it’s almost as if Cardinal Dolan is thumbing his nose at Pope Francis and the Vatican’s judicial system,” Chany said. “But the Supreme Court of the State of New York seems to be recognizing the Vatican’s authority.”
St. Elizabeth has been vacant since July 2015, Chany said, so “why rush to do this?”