Church of St. Gregory the Great

138 West 90th Street | also 144 West 90th Street | Upper West Side | built 1912

Open on the map5 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. 1913

    October 19

    The Church of St. Gregory the Great and its school are dedicated on West 90th Street

    Architect Elliott Lynch designs a four-story Beaux-Arts building with a steel frame faced in red brick and granite dressings. Cardinal Farley, who established the parish in 1907, dedicates it on October 19, 1913. The church fills the ground floor with a school above, an arrangement meant to be temporary until a separate church could be built.

    Source: Wikipedia

  2. 1916

    September

    Francisco Madero Sr., father of Mexico's president, is mourned here

    The funeral of Francisco Madero Sr., father of the assassinated Mexican president Francisco I. Madero, takes place at the church in early September 1916. His family had fled to New York after the president's murder in 1913. The Sun reports that former Mexican officials and military leaders attend, and a bronze casket is heaped with flowers.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1929

    April 18

    Babe Ruth marries Claire Hodgson at St. Gregory the Great

    Yankees slugger Babe Ruth marries former actress Claire Hodgson at the Church of St. Gregory the Great on April 18, 1929. The couple walk up the aisle around 5:45 in the morning, while a few early worshipers wait for the 6:30 mass.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 1970

    April 21

    The FBI arrests Father Philip Berrigan at the church

    Philip F. Berrigan, a priest sentenced for destroying draft records who failed to surrender for his prison term, comes to New York for a peace rally in April 1970. He stays at St. Gregory the Great with the pastor, Henry J. Browne, an outspoken advocate of low-income housing. FBI agents track him to the rectory, break through a door and arrest him.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  5. 2017

    June 30

    The parish merges with Holy Name of Jesus and the church is deconsecrated

    The parish of St. Gregory the Great merges with that of Holy Name of Jesus on May 8, 2015. The church on West 90th Street is deconsecrated on June 30, 2017.

    Source: Wikipedia

Further reading

Nearby

All 64 buildings with stories in Upper West Side