Bay Ridge

Bay Ridge corner co-named for historic church

Our Lady of Angels Way at the corner of 73rd Street and 4th Avenue

September 26, 2017 By John Alexander Brooklyn Daily Eagle
From left: Republican City Council nominee John Quaglione; Nick Chamberas, representing Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis; Evelyn Dalmasy, representing Assemblymember Pamela Harris; Holy Angels Catholic Academy Board Chairman Mike Long; Arnie Fusco; Our Lady of Angels Pastor Msgr. Kevin Noone; City Councilmember Vincent Gentile; and Fran Vella-Marrone, representing U.S. Rep. Dan Donovan. Eagle photos by John Alexander
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On Saturday, elected officials and members of the community attended a street naming ceremony in Bay Ridge.  “Our Lady of Angels Way” will now be posted on the corner of 73rd Street and 4th Avenue. The co-naming celebrates one of the oldest churches in Bay Ridge, Our Lady of Angels parish (OLA), which is celebrating its 125th anniversary in the borough.

Councilmember Vincent Gentile thanked everyone for attending the ceremony, calling OLA “a place of worship that has given so much to our community here in Bay Ridge. He described OLA as a historic and vibrant Roman Catholic parish, and went on to explain how he had worked for years to make the street naming a reality.”

“I am pleased to have introduced legislation in the City Council to co-name this street,” said Gentile. “And have this bill signed into law by the mayor to recognize and celebrate Our Lady of Angels parish and their 125th anniversary.”

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He also thanked the Department of Transportation for the installation of the sign, Community Board 10 for their support, the 68th Police Precinct for helping to manage traffic during the ceremony and all the people who worked on the 125th anniversary committee, as well as Administrative Assistant Arnie Fusco, who submitted the request for the street naming.

Gentile said OLA was “a staple of the neighborhood of Bay Ridge for well over a century now.” He explained how the church and the Catholic Academy together encompass almost an entire city block. “The beautifully grand structure and Romanesque design of the building proclaims royalty and importance and significance as many traditional Catholic churches do,” said Gentile.

When Our Lady of Angels was established in 1891 by Bishop John Loughlin, Brooklyn was an independent city that was not part of New York (Brooklyn wouldn’t join New York City until 1898).  The first Mass was held in a small firehouse on 67th Street between Second and Third avenues by the founding pastor, Rev. Martin J. Loftus. There were 72 people present.

One year later in 1892, the cornerstone was laid for the original church on the corner of 74th Street and Fourth Avenue by Charles Edward McDonald, the second Bishop of Brooklyn. The new and present church was dedicated on June 23, 1929 by Msgr. Francis O’Hara, the third pastor of OLA.

Gentile explained how different the neighborhood was during the church’s inception. “Just think of what Bay Ridge was at the time,” said Gentile. “We were still in the very rural outskirts of the city of Brooklyn. That is why this beauty of a church was given the moniker ‘Cathedral in the Woods.’ Now in 2017, it’s easy to still see the cathedral part of that moniker, but being in the woods is a little hard to imagine for modern-day Bay Ridgeites.”

Gentile called OLA a bedrock of the neighborhood. He presented Rev. Msgr. Kevin B. Noone, who has been pastor at OLA since 2009, with an official proclamation from the New York City Council commemorating the anniversary of OLA. Noone was a graduate of OLA’s class of 1958, and is the church’s tenth and current pastor. He also helped plan the 125th anniversary celebration.

Noone thanked the Community Board and Mayor Bill de Blasio for accepting Gentile’s recommendation for renaming the street.

New York State Conservative Party Chairman and Holy Angels Catholic Academy Board Chairman Mike Long said it was an honor to be part of the ceremony. He thanked Gentile for shepherding the legislation for the street naming, Arnie Fusco for initiating the startup for naming the street and Msgr. Noone for spearheading the 125th anniversary celebration.

Gentile also recognized Republican City Council nominee John Quaglione, who was representing state Sen. Marty Golden; Judy Collins, representing Community Board 10; and pre-K teacher Mary Brannan, representing the faculty at OLA. Brannan is also the mother of Democratic City Council nominee Justin Brannan, who also attended the ceremony.

“To the people of Our Lady of Angels,” Gentile said, “enjoy your anniversary and continue to be that beacon of light on this corner of a town we call Bay Ridge.”


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