{"id":299028,"date":"2026-07-17T21:43:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T21:43:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/299028\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T21:43:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T21:43:14","slug":"burned-churchs-historic-artifacts-allegedly-destroyed-in-nyc-demolition-despite-archivists-pleas-tragic-stressful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/299028\/","title":{"rendered":"Burned church’s historic artifacts allegedly destroyed in NYC demolition despite archivists’ pleas: ‘Tragic, stressful’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Any hopes of salvaging artifacts of a landmarked Brooklyn church destroyed by a possible firebug have been torched<\/a>, according to activists.<\/p>\n

The few remnants of the South Bushwick Reformed Church that may have survived the June blaze<\/a> have been bulldozed by demolition crews in what locals called a \u201ctragic and stressful\u201d situation.<\/p>\n

\u201c[We were] trying to preserve things like the cornerstone or the steel supports with the Corinthian tops that were inside the church on either side, but any of those architectural elements unfortunately were swept away with the demolition,\u201d Dina Alfano, co-founder of the Bushwick Historic Preservation Association, told The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, none of them were kept.\u201d<\/p>\n

The interior of South Bushwick Reformed Church, where the fire severely damaged the structure and caused the roof to collapse. BHPA<\/p>\n

The discovery is heartbreaking for the BHPA, which had been asking for weeks that the city Department of Buildings pause demolition long enough for the group to salvage the 19th-century church\u2019s historic artifacts.<\/p>\n

They were finally granted that approval Tuesday and were given three days to pore over the fire-ravaged building that locals lovingly called the \u201cWhite Church.\u201d<\/p>\n

But when they arrived, they discovered the workers had demolished everything other than Fellowship Hall, a 19th-century Greek Revival addition to the church that was used as a Sunday School classroom.<\/p>\n

Now, the group is prioritizing preservation of what is left of the parish hall, though how the torched walls will be stabilized is yet to be determined. <\/p>\n

The large fire engulfed the steeple of the South Bushwick Reformed Church. X \/ @FDNY<\/p>\n

The Bushwick Historic Preservation Association hoped they could salvage some of the artifacts from the church after the fire. @FD4D<\/p>\n

\u201cIts leaning steeple was a navigation icon. It\u2019s left behind a void, both literal and figurative,\u201d Alfano said.<\/p>\n

Alfano credited the church as a vital piece of Bushwick history \u2014 it was built in 1853 when the now-hipster enclave was erected as one of the first six towns of Kings County, though its congregation dates back to the 17th century.<\/p>\n

\u201cBushwick was one of the six original towns, and being that this church goes back to the earliest days of Bushwick, in that sense, it\u2019s historically significant.\u201d<\/p>\n

The South Bushwick Reformed Church was built in 1853. BHPA<\/p>\n

The church\u2019s congregation dates back to before the church was built to the 17th century. Getty Images<\/p>\n

The demolition pause is set to expire Saturday, but the DOB could not say what is next for the destroyed building.<\/p>\n

The agency classified the building as unstable after the June 19 blaze. <\/p>\n

According to the DOB, the contractors were ordered to demolish the most damaged parts of the building while the church leaders discussed ways to stabilize the rectory side of the site.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When asked about the activists\u2019 claims that they did not get the promised chance to look for artifacts before the rubble was razed the DOB said: \u201cPlease note that following the fire the building was placed under a Full Vacate Order, which is issued by DOB when occupancy of a building poses an imminent danger to the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn some cases, a Full Vacate can be partially and temporarily rescinded to allow for retrieval of belongings under supervision of an Engineer, and this is usually arranged through the building owner\u2019s hired Engineer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Firefighters spray water on the charred remains of the South Bushwick Reformed Church in New York City. David Burns\/@FD4D<\/p>\n

The cause of the fire is still unknown \u2014 and investigators aren\u2019t ruling out the possibility of arson.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd they are considering that it may well be arson. That there was surveillance video showing a figure moving back and forth just before the fire broke out,\u201d Alfano said.<\/p>\n

Investigators are also methodically combing through the church\u2019s remains for evidence of foul play, though extensive damage and debris have made the effort difficult.<\/p>\n

The investigation is still ongoing, according to the FDNY.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Any hopes of salvaging artifacts of a landmarked Brooklyn church destroyed by a possible firebug have been torched,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299029,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3094,98,9449,544,57,9,24,55,197,54,56,58],"class_list":["post-299028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-arson","tag-brooklyn","tag-bushwick","tag-fires","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-life","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-ny","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=299028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299028\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}