I took this photograph of the Highbridge Community Church on December 3. It is located at
1272 Ogden Avenue below West 169th Street and was built between 1887 and 1888 by DeWitt
Clinton Weeks & Son in the Romanesque style.
BRUCKNER DETOX
CENTER OPPOSED
cents
New owner:
I’m developing wellness center
A sense of concern and outrage
is brewing in Throggs
Neck about a possible conversion
of an offi ce building into
an unwanted use.
Commercial tenants at
2800 Bruckner Boulevard received
letters to vacate the
property, and community
leaders have formed a coalition
to fi ght a possible alcohol
Westchester Square reels over Continued on vagrants Page 67
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, O BTR CTOBER 4-10, 2019 57
Union Reformed Church, 1888
Nick DiBrino and I stopped to look
more closely at a marvelous old Romanesque
style stone church in Highbridge
in late November. It looked
so stoic and majestic with its arched
stained glass windows and the circular
turret, called a tourelle, connecting the
church to the much taller bell tower. It
was locked up when we visited but we
vowed to get back and try to get a look
at the inside.
We did get back there on December
3rd while in the neighborhood with Tom
Casey and the three of us took a number
of photographs but the gates were
locked once again. I’ve since found out
that they hold a service there on Sundays
at 10 a.m.
The old house of worship was renamed
the Highbridge Community
Church on January 1, 2006 and it is an
offshoot of the Fordham Manor Church.
Before that it was called the Union Reformed
Church of Highbridge. It is located
at 1272 Ogden Avenue below West
169th Street and was designed by architect
Alfred E. Barlow. Construction began
in December of 1887 by builder De-
Witt Clinton Weeks & Son and it was
completed and offi cially dedicated on
December 6, 1888 by the pastor, Reverend
Daniel Hoffman Martin, with a host
of clergymen present including Reverend
Dr. T. W. Chambers who read the
prayer of dedication. Among the other
clergymen present were those representing
the Episcopal, Presbyterian,
Baptist, Methodist, Congregational,
and the Reformed churches. The Tiffany
stained glass rose window over the
altar was added in 1889. The church is
one of the most signifi cant structures
in the borough and was declared a landmark
this past November.
The church was built for $18,000 and
the gneiss façade is highlighted by the
red sandstone trim. The steep pitch of
the roof is characteristic of the era of its
construction. The cornerstone dated
1888 can be found at the base of the bell
tower which houses the 1866 bell from
the original wooden chapel that was
moved further east in 1887 to allow for
the construction of the current church
building which is accessed through the
south side of the bell tower. There is, of
course, another entrance to the church
on the north side of the building.
The bluestone steps to the entranceway
appear original and add something
to the overall effect of the structure. It
is a grand old building and a remnant of
the past and it would be diffi cult to fi nd
a similar example of the architecture
anywhere else in the Bronx. It’s well
worth a visit.
REPRINTED FROM 1-13-2011
No-cost breast cancer screening
The American-Italian Cancer
Foundation’s (AICF) Mammogram
Bus travels the fi ve boroughs of New
York City to provide no-cost mammograms
and clinical breast exams
to insured and uninsured women
fi ve days a week, all year round.
On Wednesday, October 10, from
9 a.m. to 5 p.m., AICF will hold a
screening event in partnership with
Councilman Mark Gjonaj, located at
1478 Williamsbridge Road.
AICF will also provide screenings
on Friday, October 25, from 9
a.m. to 5 p.m., in partnership with
the offi ce of Dr. Donald C. Wallerson,
located at 2310 Eastchester Road; and
on Saturday, October 26, from 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m., in partnership with Mt.
Carmel Pentecostal Church, located
at 4214 White Plains Road.
Women eligible for breast cancer
screening services must be between
the ages of 40 and 79, live in
the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan,
Queens, or Staten Island, and have
not had a mammogram in the past 12
months.
This is an appointment-based
program. To schedule, call 1-877-628-
9090. Walk-ins are accommodated
whenever possible.
The goal of AICF is to make
breast cancer screenings accessible
to all NYC women by offering:
• Screenings with no out-of-pocket
cost.
• Comprehensive breast health education
which ensures that women
are aware of the importance of regular
breast cancer screenings and feel
empowered to make well-informed
health decisions.
• A traveling Mammogram Bus
that eliminates transportation and
geographical obstacles to healthcare
access by bringing screening services
directly to patients’ neighborhoods.
• Partnerships with an extensive
network of more than 220 community
sites, including trusted community
groups and civic leaders
throughout NYC to eliminate cultural
and linguistic barriers to regular
screening and reduce the distrust
of the healthcare system that
many women feel.
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ulder during a confrontation
Continued on Page 67
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While Bronxites prepared
to take a ‘bite out of crime’
at the annual August 1 Night
Out Against Crime, one crook
turned that around and took
a bite out of a local merchant
who tried to interrupt his
thievery.
A.M.A.F. Fashion business
owner Abdul Sol felt more
than an impact to his quality
of life on the morning of Sunday,
July 9, when a shoplifter
tried to leave his store with
a bag of clothing and Sol sufered
a severe bite on his left
rearm and a dislocated right
with the man.
At his 25 Westchester
Square store, Sol recalled how
the shoplifter had on previous
customer.
occasions
been a paying “He spent money here,
it’s not like I never saw him
before,” Sol said. “He came
around two or three months
ago and bought a pair of
shoes.”
But the Sunday of the assault,
the suspect asked for a
shopping bag, grabbed stuff,
and tried to leave, according
to Sol.
“I told him, ‘No, you can’t
take my stuff.’”
A fi ght ensued and Sol said
he “went to the ground with
him. I hurt my shoulder. He
took a big bite in my arm. I was
at the hospital until 6 o’clock. I
still have pain in my shoulder.
I still can’t lift my left arm.”
Sol said he had seen the
shoplifter associate with patients
from the Bronx Psychiatric
Center, so he fi gured he
was a client.
As Bronx Psychiatric Center,
on Waters Place, continues
to release its patients on
the street during the day, they
interact with homeless people
and drug rehab program.
Complaints have been
fi led with the city about beds
being moved into the building
or illegally converting it
into a residential building,
with some folks planning to
take legal action against the
landlord because they have
leases, according to multiple
sources.
Homeowners and renters
are also circulating petitions
to protest what appears to be
“a substance-abuse rehabilitation
program recruiting
staff” to work in the building
and lack of community notice
or engagement on what
may be sited at 2800 Bruckner
Boulevard.
“The community is defi -
nitely mobilized,” said Steven
Kaufman, an attorney who
is leading the Throggs Neck
Strong coalition looking into
the matter, adding “I believe
with mobilization, we might
be able to stop what they want
to do.”
Tenants in the building
say they got letters over the
last two weeks telling them
to vacate the building by
September, said Bobby Jaen,
Throggs Neck Merchants Association
president and coalition
member.
So far, at least 20 complaints
have been logged with
the NYC Department of Buildings,
including those concerning
“commercial space that is
being turned into residential
space” and those saying tenants
see “beds, dressers, mirrors
and chairs,” being moved
in.
As of press time, a meeting
of the Throggs Neck Strong
coalition has been planned
for the Crosstown Diner on
Thursday, August 3, with Jaen
expecting around 125 people,
following a lot of community
organizing and petitioning
that led to a forceful showing
at an earlier impromptu meeting
on Friday, July 28.
Anthony Mameli, Charles
Ruttenberg Realty’s Bronx
commercial real estate manager,
said the company was
planning a grand opening for
its new offi ce at the building
Bronx Times Reporter
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BRONX SCENE