The Steiner

438 East 12th Street | East Village | built 2016

Open on the map5 entries

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

  1. 1917

    July 15

    The cornerstone is laid for Mary, Help of Christians church, an earlier building on this site

    In 1898, Archbishop Corrigan invited Salesian priests from Italy to serve the Italian immigrants of the Lower East Side. At 4 p.m. on July 15, 1917, Msgr. Michael J. Lavelle, rector of St. Patrick's Cathedral, lays the cornerstone for their new church on East 12th Street. Domenico Briganti filed plans for the Florentine-inspired building in 1911, and it stands on land that was once the Roman cemetery of the old St. Patrick's Cathedral.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1931

    April 21

    Mobster Giuseppe Masseria's funeral is held at the church that once stood here

    On April 21, 1931, a silver casket that the undertaker said cost $15,000 travels from Giuseppe Masseria's Upper West Side home to Mary, Help of Christians, followed by 69 cars. Masseria, known as "Joe the Boss," was shot to death in Coney Island days earlier. Undercover detectives mix with the mourners, and one floral heart carries a ribbon with the initials A. C., sent by Al Capone.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1953

    Sara Delano Roosevelt marries at the Italian church that once stood here

    In 1953, Sara Delano Roosevelt, granddaughter of the late President Franklin D. Roosevelt, marries Anthony di Bonaventura, son of an Italian barber on East 17th Street, at Mary, Help of Christians rather than at a society church. Only a few friends and relatives are invited. More than 2,000 people from nearby tenements crowd East 12th Street hoping to see the couple.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 2007

    May 20

    The last Mass is held at Mary, Help of Christians, the church that once stood here

    After the Archdiocese of New York announces the closure in January 2007, the final Mass is celebrated at Mary, Help of Christians on May 20. The parish had been created by the Salesians as a mission and made a parish in 1908. After the property is sold to developer Douglas Steiner in 2013, preservationists ask the Landmarks Preservation Commission to step in, but it declines.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  5. 2017

    Developer Douglas Steiner completes an 82-unit condo called "The Steiner"

    In 2017, developer Douglas Steiner completes a mixed-use building designed by S9 Architecture on the site of the former church, with entrances on East 11th Street, East 12th Street, and Avenue A. It has 82 apartments and ground-floor commercial space. The developer first planned 22 affordable units, but all apartments are now to be market-rate.

    Source: buildingblocks.villagepreservation.org

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