The Churches of New York XLII: The Wedding Palace Church

Our Lady of Good Counsel
230 East 90th Street

By 1890 the Catholic population of New York continued to explode. The relentless march of the city– East Side, West Side – northward on Manhattan Island continued as well. For the new developments more parishes were needed and ever more magnificent churches. It was the golden age of the Catholic parish, of Catholic Church architecture and indeed of the Archdiocese of New York as a whole.

Archbishop Corrigan organized Our Lady of Good Counsel parish in 1886 for the Yorkville area; construction of the lower church began in that year. At the time the immediate neighborhood of the future parish church was open fields. The church would rise on a difficult site – uneven but commanding a magnificent view. In 1890 work on the upper church began; the church was dedicated in 1892. The architect was Thomas Poole, a Catholic convert who hailed from Liverpool. He played a significant yet neglected role in this golden age of Catholic Church architecture both as a builder of churches active throughout the New York area and as a writer.

The church we encounter today is mainly attributable, first, as is so often the case, to the efforts of one extraordinary pastor, the first rector Father William J. O’Kelly. He died in 1901 shortly after the consecration of the church. And second to the innumerable sacrifices by the members of a not at all well -to -do parish. The dedication to Our Lady of Good Counsel derives from a miraculous image found in the village of Gennazano near Rome.

The Original Image of Our Lady of Good Counsel.

The church faces north. Nowadays it confronts the huge apartment (now condominium) complex of the Ruppert towers. But originally there were open fields, and eventually the low buildings of the Ruppert brewery, producers up till 1965 of the late lamented Knickerbocker beer. An “old timer” at the parish pointed out to me long ago that Our Lady of Good Counsel in the pre- Ruppert Towers days enjoyed an outstanding location; travelers southbound on both the Third and Second Avenue els had a grand view of this church’s facade. The elaborate, light gray stone façade at first makes a rather fortress-like and forbidding impression with its crenellations and massive Tudor gothic towers. A rectory in the same style is attached. But on second glance, the elaborate windows and staircases intrigue the visitor, who can also admire the clever disposition of the church on a sharply sloped street.

The contrast with the lush interior could not be greater. For Our Lady of Good Counsel is perhaps the most exuberant and fantastic late Victorian interior in the city. Most impressive is the elaborate fan vaulting. The inspiration is clearly English perpendicular gothic of Henry VII’s lady chapel at Westminster Abbey or of King’s College chapel, Cambridge. The church has side aisles and galleries – but, unusually for a Catholic church, the sanctuary is set against one of the long sides of the interior. This layout, which in Protestant meeting houses deliberately serves to deemphasize the importance of the (no longer existent) sanctuary, is in this church counterbalanced by the fantastic elaboration of the main altar. The relatively small dimensions of this church allow the furnishing and decoration to extend all over the interior – carved altars, stained glass windows, paintings, even the beautiful wood of the pews contribute to the overall impression.

The decoration of the interior draws on disparate sources and styles. Italians carved the altars. The main painter, Rossi, was also Italian and well regarded in his day. The magnificent windows of the firm of Mayer in Munich are some of the finest and best preserved in the city – especially the spectacular large north window dedicated to the apparitions of and devotions to the Blessed Mother. Now German stained glass, frescoes and white marble altars were the key components of the décor of many other Victorian churches – one thinks of St Stephen’s or Holy Innocents! Yet one senses here a new effort – as compared to these earlier churches – to integrate all these elements and styles in a single work of art. The interior of Our Lady of Good Counsel, despite all its richness and intricacy, makes an amazingly harmonious artistic statement. We also sense a growing desire of the parishes of that time to create original architecture – to try to more sharply distinguish themselves from each other.

The great window of Our Lady – with the image of Our Lady of Good Counsel in the center.

Above, Our Lady of the Rosary. Below, Our Lady of Lourdes (a virtually identical window by Mayer is in St. Stephen’s church).

Christopher Columbus.

This painting with the inscription “Suffer the little children to come unto me…” undoubtedly commemorates the reduction in the age of receiving first communion promulgated by Pope Pius X in 1910. We would point out to certain pontificators on matters ecclesiastical that no houseling cloth is on the altar rail.

This Yorkville parish soldiered on through the years. The neighborhood began to shift after the 1960’s from a solid middle and working class district to a more upscale and transient environment – the transition from the Ruppert Brewery to the Ruppert Towers. Most fortunately, the liturgical changes of the Council did not involve here the wholesale destruction of the interior of the church – particularly the sanctuary. In 2005 – just in time for its 100th anniversary – the parochial school of Our Lady of Good Counsel was closed by the Archdiocese. Yet in 2012 the NYC Department of Education signed a 15-year lease on the location of the former parochial school in order to handle the great and growing demand for school space in the district. Just recently there have been restorations to the basement and organ.

We would hope that Our Lady of Good Counsel, with the advantage of its unique sanctuary and history, would continue to maintain and develop the presence of Catholicism in Yorkville. I have read that this church is in much demand for weddings – as well it should be! There is no more enchanting location in New York. Father Groeschel’s Friars of the Renewal have also been active here. And now and then, since Summorum Pontificum, the Traditional Mass has returned as well to these magnificent surroundings, which were after all created to enable its celebration with all the requisite beauty.