Sunday, July 26, 2009

Nativity of Our Blessed Lady, East 233 St., Eastchester


Important!  Much of this post is contradicted by what I observed on 9.21.2019.  Please look at this update.
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The photographs below are from 2009.  On August 8, 2015, I passed this church and did not notice any sign that it was closed, even though the Archbishop merged this parish with Holy Rosary parish. Regular Mass and sacraments will not be available here, but rather at Holy Rosary - Nativity, on Eastchester Road near Gun Hill Road, where Father Dennis Williams is pastor of the combined parish.  However, some Mount Vernon Catholic churches may also be handy for displaced parisioners.  Historically this borderland of The Bronx has had strong ties to Mount Vernon.  Maybe most of the houses within Nativity parish (under the old parish-boundaries protocol) are, in fact, in Mount Vernon.  The Bronx side of the border, with Nativity church and school and the Dyre Avenue subway station is more commercial and industrial.


Nativity of Our Blessed Lady church stands at the southwest corner of East 233rd Street and Secor Avenue. The far side of the church, that is, facing Secor Avenue, has some windows. 

The address of the parish school is 3893 Dyre Avenue, Bronx NY 10466, telephone 718-324-2188.



See pages 484 and 485 for the foundation of the parish of the Nativity of Our Blessed Lady near Dyre Avenue and East 233 Street in the Eastchester neighborhood of The Bronx. 
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Though the parish dates from 1924, a first church was completed in 1933, according to a parish history at this link. The church burned in 1958, and in 1969 the new church was inaugurated at the corner of Secor Avenue and East 233rd Street. For many years since the parish school's opening in 1953, the Dominican Sisters of Newburgh educated youngsters of Nativity. The school is at 3893 Dyre Avenue, telephone 718-324-2188. It appears that the school has one section per grade, as it graduated about thirty students in June, 2009. In September, 2019, it is actively recruiting students both for Universal Pre-Kindergarten (UPK, a municipal program) and the K-8 school.
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The name Eastchester dates back to the late 1600's, it seems, but the Town of Eastchester shrunk as cities and villages were carved from it. This northern neighborhood of The Bronx is correctly called Eastchester, but the remaining Town of Eastchester lies about six miles north. Church and school are near the Dyre Avenue terminus of the 5 Train of the New York City subway.
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A comment follows:
Blogger michael said...
"I grew up in the north Bronx. entered Nativity school the 1st year it opened. In fact, I have the program when Cardinal Spellman dedicated the school. I also was an altar boy when the church was on Secor Avenue. In fact, I served the last mass there on the day it burnt down. I also have a photo of my baptism that shows the lawn where the playground now is or was."
January 19, 2009 12:22 AM

St. Margaret of Cortona, Riverdale

The church of St. Margaret of Cortona is on the east side of Riverdale Avenue north of West 260th Street. See page 298 for the 1889 establishment of the parish of St Margaret of Cortona at Riverdale Avenue and West 260 Street. The present church dates from 1965. The rectory address is 6000 Riverdale Ave., Bronx NY 10471, telephone 718-549-8053. Effective August 1, 2015, this parish is the primary parish in a merger with St. Gabriel's, two miles south. Both churches and schools remain open.  The 2015 Official Catholic Directory lists these enrollment figures; 313 at St. Margaret School, 238 at St. Gabriel.

The congregation leaves church after the 5:15 Mass on a July Saturday. The parish has extensive frontage on the west side of Riverdale Avenue. To the right of the church in this photo (that is, south) is the rectory, then West 260th Street, then a paved lot for the school, then a newer school building and more space. To the left (that is, north) is a parking lot with trees.


Above is the parish school at 452 West 260th Street, Bronx NY 10471, telephone 718-549-8580. To the rear right is a newer extension of perhaps eight more classrooms. The website for the parish school is here.  In addition, there are frequent posts on the school Twitter page, with links to Facebook.