The South Bushwick Church in Brooklyn survived 173 years of natural disasters, neighborhood upheaval and advancing gentrification. But a swift afternoon fire on Friday largely destroyed it and toppled its landmark steeple.
Over the weekend, a jumble of burned wooden beams obstructed the front of the church, and its insides were open to the sky, with only the outline of a roof remaining. The air still smelled like smoke.
Most of the stained glass windows were gone.
Formerly known as the Dutch Reformed Bushwick Church, the structure was completed in 1853 and was classified as a city landmark in 1968. Nearby Himrod Street was named after one of its pastors.
The Rev. Dr. James E. Steward II, 42, the pastor since 2013, said it was painful to watch the church go up in flames. “That church has stood for 175 years until this,” he said, adding, “It’s seen the best of Bushwick and the worst of Bushwick.” It survived fires in the ’70s and ’80s, when the neighborhood experienced riots and arson. A tornado hit the church in 2006, and it was damaged by Tropical Storm Isaias in 2020.
On Saturday, the top of the leaning steeple, a navigational landmark for Bushwick residents, was lying on the lawn, while the tall wooden beams that supported it rested diagonally against what was left of the roof.
“The Bushwick skyline really included our steeple,” Mr. Steward said. “People who were lost in the neighborhood would find their way home by locating the spire. It’s in the fabric and culture of the community, culturally and historically.”
Bushwick, originally a Dutch settlement, had an influx of German immigrants in the 19th century, which led to an outpouring of industry and exceptional architecture. Dina Alfano, co-founder of the Bushwick Historic Preservation Association, said the church was the oldest landmark in the neighborhood. It even predated the row of Bushwick Avenue mansions that served as country escapes for wealthy brewing barons.
“That steeple was instantly recognizable. It was our Leaning Tower of Pisa,” Ms. Alfano said in a phone interview. She lamented that many of Bushwick’s celebrated buildings have been destroyed and replaced by expensive apartment buildings and condos. “Bushwick’s history is fading before our eyes,” she said.
The National Fund for Sacred Places gave the congregation $25,000 for steeple repairs in 2021, and the congregation raised an addition $75,000.
Sandy Nurse, the local councilwoman, said her office and other elected officials had worked with city agencies to bring the building up to code. “This is a cash-poor community that is rich in other ways, like being rich in resilience in the face of displacement, but there is not enough income in the community to really sustain historic buildings like this,” she said.
Ms. Nurse said that Letitia James, the New York attorney general, and Antonio Reynoso, the Brooklyn borough president, had reached out about helping to fund repairs.
The cause of the fire, which firefighters fought for seven hours, was still under investigation, the Fire Department said.
The congregation is small: About 50 members come in person weekly, plus twice that number who attend services virtually, Mr. Stewart said.
Yarison Ortiz Guzman, 24, joined a year and a half ago after leaving his local Catholic church.
He was baptized at the Bushwick church, in a tub beneath a stage that he said survived the fire. “We were a small amount of people, but there was so much love and care for each other,” he said.
“I’m personally hoping we can still salvage a lot of the historical items,” Mr. Ortiz Guzman continued. “It survived hurricanes, it survived the freezing winter. It survived a whole lot.”
Ray Acosta, a local activist with the Grove Street Tenant Association, said he regularly came by just to admire the church. He had seen the flames on Friday afternoon. “It was an inferno,” he said. “This church was the last gem of the historic churches in Bushwick,” he added. “It’s a shame it’s gone.”
Monika Judkins, 36, the pastor’s sister-in-law and the church’s music director, said her favorite part, the pipe organ, was still standing.
“It’s devastating,” she said. “This was a safe space for us, a place for people to come, a community where we were able to share from pantry items to clothes.”
It held block parties twice a year, most recently about two weeks ago. The church made an effort to welcome transplants to Bushwick and hosted a Thanksgiving dinner each year for residents who lived far from their families.
About 100 cars have stopped by to lament the damage, the pastor said. On Saturday, a driver shouted “No!” in anguish as he drove past.
Joggers and bikers paused, taking out their headphones and gazing up. One asked if the building would be replaced by a new development.
Half a mile from the fire, St. Mark’s German Evangelical Church, built in the 1890s, was converted into luxury apartments in 2017.
Georgy Mandou, 78, a member of the congregation, felt the church’s destruction acutely as he stood outside. “I feel like I lost a child today, honestly,” he said.
Church members say they want to rebuild. “He’s going to resurrect it,” Mr. Mandou said, pointing up at the heavens.
“Right now we’re assessing,” Mr. Steward said. “The community, our congregation, wants us to rebuild, that is our intent, but obviously we know it’s going to be a massive undertaking.”
Ms. Alfano doesn’t believe it will be possible to restore the building.
“All I know is it’s a part of the Dutch settler history that’s completely gone,” she said.
Wesley Parnell contributed reporting.
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