Church of Sts. Cyril & Methodius and St. Raphael

502 West 41st Street | Hudson Yards | built 1902

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.

1902
October 26
Archbishop Farley lays the cornerstone of St. Raphael's Church
Archbishop John Farley officiates as the cornerstone is laid for a new St. Raphael's Church at 502 West 41st Street. Architect George H. Streeton designs the French Gothic building for the poor Irish immigrants of Hell's Kitchen. The parish had been formed in 1886 from territory split off from two neighboring parishes, and construction runs from 1901 to 1903.
Source: Wikipedia
1974
November 10
St. Raphael's holds its last Mass and a Croatian parish takes over the church
St. Raphael's, reduced from an independent parish to a mission in 1935 after Lincoln Tunnel construction and railroad realignment thinned the neighborhood, holds its last Mass on November 10, 1974. Since 1974 the building has been home to a Croatian national parish, founded in 1913 by two Franciscan priests. The church now carries the name Sts. Cyril & Methodius and St. Raphael.
Source: Wikipedia
1977
The church installs a bust of Cardinal Aloysius Stepinac
In 1977 the church receives a bust of Cardinal Aloysius Stepinac, Archbishop of Zagreb from 1937 until his death in 1960. The sculptor is Ivan Mestrovic.
Source: Wikipedia
1980
February 10
The city renames a block of West 41st Street for Cardinal Stepinac
On this date the portion of West 41st Street in front of the church is officially named Cardinal Stepinac Place. The name honors the Croatian cardinal whose bust the church had received three years earlier.
Source: Wikipedia

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