 St. Nicholas of Tolentine |
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St. Nicholas of Tolentine was established as a territorial parish in 1906, and its first Masses were said in a garage nearby. The record reports that 127 people attended the first Mass. The parish is situated in University Heights, as the neighborhood is called due to the presence in the area at that time of New York University. This developed into an attractive, middle-class neighborhood, predominantly of Irish parishioners at the second stage of their mobility upward from poorer sections of Manhattan and the South Bronx. It was a thriving parish, in the style of the best Irish parishes of New York City, and was staffed from the beginning by the Augustinian fathers. An elementary school was started in 1907 and continues to flourish. A high school was established in 1927 but had to be closed in 1991 because of financial difficulties.  Construction on the present church began during the 1920s. The lower church, which served as the main church for many years, was dedicated in 1928. The present structure was completed in the 1950s and consecrated in 1957. The upper church seats 1,400 people. |
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