For Now, the Steeples Are Staying

The leaning steeples of the Gothic United Methodist Church of Sheepshead Bay were going to be torn down to prevent their collapse.

But when the news got out in the neighborhood, help came forward. Now a contractor will stabilize the spires of Sheepshead Bay's oldest church.

It's a temporary fix, not the full refurbishment they need, but it's enough to save them from demolition and buy some time.

The church is a Sheepshead Bay icon, but the wood-frame building on Ocean Avenue is infested with termites.

Church membership has dropped below 100 -- with a Korean and an English-speaking congregation -- and there isn't money enough for upkeep.

Valerie Landriscina, of RAND Engineering and Architecture, is leading an effort to preserve the church, writing to local politicians and contacting church leaders to put them in touch with historic preservation organizations offering grant money for repairs -- hopefully including the New York Landmarks Conservancy's Sacred Sites Program.

The church, said Landriscina, is a part of Sheepshead Bay's heritage.

Perhaps it's time the church, called "an undocumented landmark", was documented.

The article from the Daily News.