Citylight Church

121 East 7th Street | East Village | built 1904

Open on the map4 entries

The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1903

    Hungarian immigrants convert a house into a church

    The First Hungarian Reformed Church, founded in 1895, buys the old house at 121 East 7th Street, as the New York Times reports on May 10, 1902. The congregation hires architect and builder Frederick Ebeling to turn it into a church, and it is consecrated in 1903. Ebeling later extends the building to the property line and adds a central bell tower in the style of a Hungarian country church.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1912

    May 24

    Police guard the sanctuary amid a dispute over a 'Medal of Virtue'

    Rev. Zoltan Kuthy awards a Medal of Virtue each year to the congregants he judges most virtuous. When the 1912 winners' names leak, other members take offense, and the Sun reports that rivals threatened to beat the pastor and the recipients. Police from the 5th Street station are posted inside the sanctuary on Sunday, May 24, 1912.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1916

    The Hungarian congregation leaves, and an Orthodox church takes over the building

    The First Hungarian Reformed congregation moves uptown to a new church on East 69th Street, completed in 1916. The old building is bought by the Christian Orthodox Catholic Church of the Eastern Confession in North America and becomes Holy Resurrection Church. A dispute between its archbishop and the priest he left in charge ends up in court in November 1918.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 1961

    The church's original stone facade is covered in artificial cladding

    St. Mary's American Orthodox Greek Catholic Church buys the building in 1961 and covers Ebeling's stone facade with Naturestone, an artificial stone. It is the fourth congregation to own the building.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

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