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St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church (Bronx)

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Coordinates: 40°51′44.89″N 73°54′21.43″W / 40.8624694°N 73.9059528°W / 40.8624694; -73.9059528
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St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church
Map
LocationFordham Road and University Avenue, Bronx, New York City
CountryUnited States
DenominationCatholic Church
Religious instituteOrder of Saint Augustine
History
DedicationNicholas of Tolentine
DedicatedSeptember 15, 1907
Architecture
Functional statusActive
Architect(s)Delaney, O'Connor & Schultz (for 1927 church)[1]
StyleCollegiate Gothic Gothic Revival
Administration
ArchdioceseArchdiocese of New York
Clergy
ArchbishopTimothy Cardinal Dolan
Pastor(s)Fr. Luis Vera, O.S.A.
Laity
Organist(s)Daniel Kirk-Foster

The Church of St. Nicholas of Tolentine is a Roman Catholic parish church under the authority of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, located at Fordham Road at University Avenue, in the Bronx borough of New York City, in the U.S. state of New York. The substantial stone twin-towered is deemed "The Cathedral of the Bronx."[2]

History

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The parish was founded by the Augustinian friars on April 22, 1906, with the first Mass occurring in a small garage on North Street near Jerome Avenue.[3] Immediately from 1906 on, construction of a permanent church with parochial buildings on Andrews Avenue and Fordham Road commenced.[3] The complex would consist of a two-story "combination building," a parochial school-over-church building, along with a separate rectory. Monsignor J. F. Mooney, V.G. laid the cornerstone on July 15, 1906.[3] the church was dedicated by Archbishop (later Cardinal) Farley on September 15, 1907.[3] In 1914, the property was valued at $135,000.[3] By 1914, the University Avenue and Fordham Road property that the present church stands on was purchased and being prepared.[3] The present Collegiate Gothic church structure was built in 1927 to the designs of Delaney, O'Connor & Schultz.[1] The building has been incorrectly dated by other sources as being erected in the early 1900s, or sometime in the 1950s.[4][2]

On March 5, 2010, a suspicious two-alarm blaze filled the sanctuary with flames and smoke. "The fire started in a former confessional-turned-storage room in the vestibule of the church, blocking the main entrance."[2] The Rev. Joseph Girone evacuated worshipers through the rectory after principal exits were blocked.[2] Some firemen were injured from a falling plaster ceiling.[2] FDNY Deputy Chief Kevin Scanlon called the fire "suspicious" that "accelerated rapidly [and] it was a heavy fire that didn't have the normal flow of a fire."[2] A string of arson attacks against Bronx churches had recently claimed the Glory of Christ Church in December 2009 in Parkchester.[2] Despite the fire, church services were resumed at the parish school's gym, adjacent to the church.[4]

The parish is still staffed by the Augustinian friars.

St. Nicholas of Tolentine Elementary School

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The parochial school, which opened in 1907, was run by the Augustinian Fathers and the Sisters of Charity.[3] In 1914, the school was run by 2 Sisters of Charity and 1 lay teacher. The school had 45 male and 45 female pupils.[3] The original school was over the church, and took over the whole building when the present church building was completed in 1927.[3] The school has around 376 students from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade.[5] The school closed June 2019. [6]

Former St. Nicholas of Tolentine High School

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There was a St. Nicholas of Tolentine High School, which the parish operated from 1927 to 1991.[7]

It was famous for its high school basketball team.[7]

The teaching faculty were a mix of layperson educators, Augustinian priests, and Dominican nuns.

References

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  1. ^ a b "St. Nicholas of Tolentine". NYC Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. Retrieved 10 February 2011.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Jaccarino, Mike; Lemire, Jonathan (March 5, 2010). "Suspicious blaze breaks out at Bronx church St. Nicholas of Tolentine". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on March 9, 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2011.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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.389.
  4. ^ a b "Despite Fire, Bronx Church Holds Service". New York One News (NY1 News). 7 March 2010. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2011.
  5. ^ "St. Nicholas of Tolentine Elementary School". New York City Great Schools. Retrieved 10 February 2011.
  6. ^ Chicoine, Christie L. (February 13, 2019). "Seven Catholic Elementary Schools to Close in June". Catholic New York. Retrieved November 27, 2022.
  7. ^ a b Nieves, Evelyn (May 17, 1991). "Archdiocese Will Close a Bronx High School". The New York Times. Retrieved March 14, 2013.
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40°51′44.89″N 73°54′21.43″W / 40.8624694°N 73.9059528°W / 40.8624694; -73.9059528

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