Congregants of the West Park Presbyterian Church, a Manhattan landmark, want it torn down and replaced by condos. Celebrities are joining the fight to save it.
New York Times, June 26, 2023
By Mihir Zaveri
For years, a conflict over whether to tear down one of New York City’s historic churches, a 19th-century Romanesque Revival building on the Upper West Side, has been cast in epic terms, as a battle between the little people and big business.
In this case, however, those who see themselves as representing the little people include a growing list of New York celebrities.
And big business? That would be a real estate firm working with the tiny congregation of the West Park Presbyterian Church, which says it cannot afford to fix up the deteriorating building and hopes to sell it to a developer to build new luxury apartments on the site.
What has ensued is a perplexing tug of war for the moral high ground, set against the backdrop of a long-running conflict over who feels like they should have control over the city’s future.
