Historic Flatbush Church Sold For $3.3M, City Records Show

FLATBUSH, BROOKLYN -- A historic Flatbush church that preservations hoped to save from demolition with landmark status has been sold for more than $3.3 million, city records show.

The Presbytery of New York City sold its century-old church on East 23rd Street and Foster Avenue to an anonymous LLC for $3,325,000 on July 8, financial records show.

Brokerage firm Colliers International negotiated the sale to 494 East 23rd Street LLC, represented by Israel Rosenbaum, of what they call a 14,460-square-foot "development site" and what preservationists from Respect Brooklyn call an "architecturally and historically significant building and church."

The English Gothic style church was designed by John J. Petit in 1898 and known as "The Little Stone Church in the Potato Patch."

It is adorned with the a Gothic tower with crocket-enhanced spires, clerestory windows, trefoil-style crowned windows, and pointed arches, was updated by Hobart B. Upjohn in 1922 and celebrated by the Architectural Forum Journal in 1925.

Preservationists worry the church is vulnerable to demolition, despite remaining in "perfect condition," because the church is without a congregation, the group wrote in January.

So the grassroots organization is now organizing a letter-writing campaign directed at Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, City Council Member Dr. Mathieu Eugene and the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

"Your help is needed to save this important piece of neighborhood history," organizers wrote. "It s [sic] under threat like never before."