NYC luxury condos in gutted beloved church are a holy mess, with windows that are an OCD nightmare: locals

New York Post

21-07-2025

Beauty is in the eye of the checkbook holder.
Developers gutting a beloved church and community space in Greenpoint for luxury condos have stripped away the regal façade in favor of what neighbors are calling 'horrendous.'
The construction fencing surrounding the former Park Church Co-op on Russell Street was dropped last week, revealing that the stunning stained-glass archway was removed, the ornate stairway demolished and the entire face of the brick building painted over with muted white paint.
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6 The former Park Church Co-op is being gutted and transformed into a condominium.
Katherine Donlevy
'It's made me furious to see this. This is horrible,' said Michael Malhas, 66, an architect with a specialty in historic restoration.
But maybe the biggest sin in the entire design is an OCD-triggering, off-center window just above the front entrance of the former church — taking the place of a gorgeous, stained-glass masterpiece that once adorned the church.
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The original ornate detailing of the church was also not restored, and some pieces of the brick and moldings were crumbling.
'You have to be a horrible architect to do this. They have no respect for anything except for money. This is so cheap, it's the easy way out. It's all about money.'
6 Michael Malhas, a Greenpointer and architect, said he was 'furious' to see the ugly project.
Katherine Donlevy
'Whoever did this — the architect should really lose their license over this.'
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Other neighbors with zero expertise in architecture easily agreed that the new condos were just plain ugly.
'It's just horrible, everyone hates it,' Maria Surawaska, 38, said, with partner Keith Willmann, 44, adding: 'It looks fake. It just looks like a s–tty new building.'
The pair was under the impression that the developers would try to preserve some of the gorgeous building, which overlooks Msgr. McGolrick Park.
6 The church pictured before the renovations.
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Instead they got a biblically-bad design, they said.
'They took what was a really pretty building and put the most topical, Band-Aid solution on it,' Willman said. 'It's gross … It's all disappearing. It's all turning into these cookie-cutter, fly-by-night buildings that have no soul whatsoever.'
A mock-up of the finished building that hung up on the construction fencing included red brick, some of the stained glass and the original moldings — all of which were overhauled.
6 A mock-up of the project that was previously posted outside the church looks very different from the muted, white building.
Katherine Donlevy
'It's just a symbol of the gentrification that's kind of creeping up to Greenpoint,' said Surawaska, who has lived in the neighborhood for eight years.
Matt Basso considered buying a unit in the building after hearing it would be transformed into condos, but quickly abandoned the plan when he saw the result.
'This was my favorite building here, or at least it was. It was so pretty before,' said Basso, 28, who works in property management.
The aesthetics of the building is just the latest gripe the community has had over the former church, which served as a beloved community space before it was sold last year for $4.7 million to a Dutch social media influencer, Sara Rottenberg, and Brooklyn-based GW Russell LLC.
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6 Maria Surawaska and Keith Willmann, who moved to the neighborhood eight years ago, said the renovation was a sign of gentrification.
Katherine Donlevy
Neighbors frantically tried to save the church, which hosted after-school programs and dance troupes. It was also the first Big Apple church ever to host a drag story time.
Locals tried to crowdsource funds to permanently establish the church as a community center, but simply couldn't compete with the deep pockets of real estate developers.
'My biggest frustration is this overarching one of there's this fabulous community venue that has served so many irreligious purposes over the years, and all of those purposes are simply thrown out to the highest and the most liquid bidder who's able to bid on this property,' said Jamie Hook, an activist who has lived in Greenpoint for two decades.
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While there is a demand for housing in the neighborhood, Hook stressed that there is also a need for public space.
6 'This was my favorite building here, or at least it was. It was so pretty before' local Matt Basso said.
Katherine Donlevy
'People always say, 'Oh, there's a housing crisis in Brooklyn. This is going to help.' I don't believe that luxury housing for 5 or 6 extremely wealthy people helps that housing crisis any more than building massive buildings on the waterfront that have a very small parcel of affordable housing preserves the housing prices in Greenpoint.'
Plus, the idea of living in a former church just seems wrong: 'I'm not even religious, but I would never want to live in a church just in case I'm wrong.'
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Representatives from GW Russell LLC did not respond to The Post's request for comment, but told Greenpointers this week that it did its best to keep the church's unique aesthetic intact.
'From the beginning, the group was committed to preserving the building's unique character and long-standing presence wherever possible, since it's a building with such a long and meaningful history. They kept the structure as much as possible as is,' said Noëlle Cathari, a representative for the project.
The project is still awaiting window placements, exterior painting and interior renovations, she continued, placing an anticipated construction completion date at the end of the summer.