Jan Hus Presbyterian Church
351 East 74th Street | Lenox Hill | built 1910
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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.
- 1877
Gustav Alexy founds a congregation for Czech immigrants
Hungarian-born minister Gustav Albert Alexy gathers a couple dozen Czech-speaking immigrants in 1874 and formally organizes the congregation three years later. It takes its name from Jan Hus, the 15th-century Bohemian religious reformer and martyr, and Alexy's successor, Vincent Pisek, goes on to lead it for 46 years.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1888
R. H. Robertson builds a church for Czech Presbyterians
The congregation began in 1877, when the Hungarian missionary Gustav Alexy set out to minister to New York's Czech community. Its church here, designed by R. H. Robertson in a Bohemian Gothic Revival style, was built in 1888. In 1915 the church opened a neighborhood house for Czech folk music, dance, marionette theater and other culture.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1915
The church adds the six-story Jan Hus House next door
The congregation raises funds for an addition built beside the sanctuary to serve the neighborhood's Czech immigrants. The six-story Jan Hus House holds classrooms, meeting rooms, living quarters for ten people, and the parsonage, giving the growing congregation room beyond Sunday worship.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1952
The church basement becomes a home for Gilbert and Sullivan troupes
The church's 150-seat basement theater housed Gilbert and Sullivan companies almost continuously from 1952 to 1975: the American Savoyards played there from 1952 to 1967 and the Light Opera of Manhattan from 1969 to 1975. The improv troupe Chicago City Limits followed from 1981 to 1992.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1960
Barbra Streisand makes her New York stage debut in the church's theater
The Actors' Co-op revives the comedy "The Insect Comedy" in the church's auditorium, with an unknown Barbra Streisand in the cast for her first New York stage role. It comes years before her breakthrough on Broadway and in film.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1981
The improv troupe Chicago City Limits moves into the church's theater
The comedy company takes over the basement theater, running stand-up comedy nights and improvised shows there until 1992. It follows several earlier resident companies in the space, including a Gilbert and Sullivan troupe and the Light Opera of Manhattan, each performing there for years before moving on.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2019
The Jan Hus congregation sells its 1888 church and moves to First Avenue
The church ran an outreach program for homeless New Yorkers, receiving mail for more than 500 people who used its address. In 2019 the congregation sold its 23,000-square-foot building here and moved to a new facility at 1745 First Avenue, which opened in late 2020.
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- Jan Hus Presbyterian ChurchWikipedia
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