According to information obtained by The Washington Post, the Upper East Side parish carried out nighttime demolition of the church without a permit in an attempt to sell the property.
Kalman Csany, a lay trustee for St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church, and neighbors noticed workers removing items, including religious relics, from the shuttered church at 213 East 83rd Street.
Additionally, demolition work took place inside the building overnight, with historic stained-glass windows being removed.
City Buildings Department officials visited the church on the evening of May 29 “after receiving several 311 calls,” department spokesman Andrew Rudansky said. “Inspectors observed construction crews conducting extensive interior renovations” and “using construction vehicles to remove construction debris from the site.”
The department had “no record of a permit being issued for this work” at the church and parsonage, which spans from 211 to 215 East 83rd Street, so a partial stop-work order was issued, he said.
The parish received two citations for allegedly operating illegally without a permit and failing to implement safety measures to protect the public, and was fined a total of $7,500, but the fines were paid.
The Archdiocese of New York has denied any wrongdoing.
“This is not an illegal demolition,” said Joseph Zwilling, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of New York. “It is not a ‘top-to-bottom renovation,’ but rather the removal and storage of items of liturgical, historical and monetary value for possible future use.”
The alleged demolition comes despite ongoing litigation challenging the parish’s 2016 merger with another parish in the area and as the combined parish approaches the imminent sale of St. Elizabeth Church.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan issued a decree merging St. Elizabeth Parish with St. Monica Parish and St. Stephen of Hungary Parish in 2016. The combined parish will be based at St. Monica Parish, 413 East 79th Street.
Brooklyn-based developer Robert Safaie is in contract to purchase St. Elizabeth Church and the rectory for $11.75 million, according to a sales agreement.
The Manhattan Supreme Court approved the sale on May 6. Safae told The Washington Post that he doesn’t yet own the property and is not aware of any demolition taking place at the site.
Zwilling said the sale of the church is “not final.”
“I think the cardinal was trying to raise a lot of money,” said longtime St. Elizabeth parishioner John Cornell, “so he wanted to sell as many church properties as he could.”
Chaney and Cornell filed suit with the Vatican against the 2016 merger and 2017 deconsecration, arguing that St. Elizabeth is a spiritual home for deaf Catholics.
The church held a mass led by a pastor fluent in American Sign Language and a deaf choir.
They also filed a civil lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court challenging the sale of the church to Mr. Safae, citing the ongoing Vatican litigation.
A judge on Thursday set a trial date for July 17 in the civil case.
“It’s as if Cardinal Dolan has contempt for Pope Francis and the Vatican’s judicial system,” Chaney said of the fact that the diocese is moving forward with dissolution without a decision yet being made on the merger of the three churches, “but the New York State Supreme Court appears to recognize the authority of the Vatican.”
Chaney said St. Elizabeth Church has been vacant since July 2015. “Why the rush to do this?”
