08-03-2025
Mark Ruffalo among top actors rallying to save landmark church in NYC
UPPER WEST SIDE, Manhattan (PIX11) — Mark Ruffalo, Matthew Broderick and Laurence Fishburne are among a list of top actors rallying to protect a landmark church on the Upper West Side.
Celebrities will stand alongside residents and elected officials protesting against the sale of the West Park Presbyterian Church to developers. The rally kicks off with live music at 11 a.m. on Saturday at The Center at West Park.
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The Romanesque Revival-style church was built between 1883 and 1890 and was named a New York City Landmark in 2010 by the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
According to its preservation website, church leaders in the 1880s advocated for ethnic inclusion and later played a role in the civil rights movement as well as the anti-Vietnam War and the anti-nuclear arms movements in the 1960s.
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In more recent years the West-Park Presbyterian Church served as the original site of the West Side Food Pantry and God's Love We Deliver. The church has also been a champion of same-sex marriage rights.
In April 2022 the church's owners applied for hardship due to the structure needing about $50 million worth of repairs. Had it been approved the church would have been demolished however the move was protested by Ruffalo among other celebrities like Matt Damon, Amy Schumer and Common.
As previously reported by The New York Times, the hardship application was rescinded in January 2024.
Owners of the West Park Presbyterian Church say the congregation is nearly bankrupt from the cost of upkeeping the building and are now seeking to sell the structure to an affiliate of Alchemy Properties.
Dominique Jack is a digital content producer from Brooklyn with more than five years of experience covering news. She joined PIX11 in 2024. More of her work can be found here.
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