North Tour Stop 13: Dayspring Church

Dayspring Church and Rectory

        Greenery and the Octagon development both dwarf this tiny gneiss, a type of stone, chapel, originally constructed in 1924 as the Episcopal Chapel of the Holy Spirit, for the former Metropolitan Hospital. When the hospital moved to Harlem in 1955, the chapel was effectively abandoned, save for the hospital's chaplain, who liked his quarters in the chapel's rectory so much that he decided to stay until the 1990s. 

        The Chapel is currently home to Dayspring Baptist Church, and although the building is in use, many of its original stained glass windows are cracked or broken, and several highly noticeable alterations have been made (check out the back door). 

    The rear yard of the chapel is home to another cat sanctuary, whose occupants seem quite content to lay in the shade of the little sanctuary.

    Interested in protecting the chapel? Fill out a nomination form. (Psst...the Address is 851 Main Street, New York, NY 10044, Block 1373, Lot 1.)

Marena Wisniewski

Jerome Ryan, www.mountainsoftravelphotos.com

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