West 71st Street. Blessed Sacrament Church, Exterior
1919
West 71st Street. Blessed Sacrament Church, Exterior
Church of the Blessed Sacrament, ca. 1919.
This Catholic parish was established in 1887. The very first mass was celebrated on Easter Sunday of that year in a stable building on 72nd Street. Only a few months later, ground was broken for the first church, an Italianate red brick structure. The moderately sized building quickly outgrew the expanding congregation. The first church was demolished in 1917 and its replacement completed in 1920. The neo-Gothic building is elaborate inside and out and has a large colorful rose window directly above the entrance.