New York, January 22, 2026
Photo: acrod.org
St. Nicholas of Myra Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Church in New York City celebrated its 100th anniversary in November.
The celebration on Sunday, November 24th, was led by Metropolitan Gregory of Nyssa, head of the Patriarchate of Constantinople’s American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of North America, the diocese reports.
Met. Gregory tonsured two readers before Divine Liturgy. At the end of the service, he preached on the importance of involving children in the Liturgy.
The celebration then continued at LiGreci’s The Staaten in Staten Island, with live music and dancing.
The Metropolitan presented gramotas to ten eldest parish members who serve or formerly served on the parish council. All Sunday School teachers, past and present, also received gifts from the parish.
And in honor of his 10th Anniversary of ordination and placement at St. Nicholas Church, the parish council gifted rector Fr. William Bennett a custom icon of St. William (Guillaume) of Gellone.
Photo: sideways.nyc
The founders and parishioners of St. Nicholas came primarily from the villages of Jarabina and Litmanova in the Vysoky Tatry Mountains of then-Czechoslovakia, as well as from Kamienka and other towns in the Beskid and Carpathian Mountains. On May 27, 1924, John Vislocky approached Metropolitan Platon about organizing a Carpatho-Russian Church in New York City.
On September 6, 1925, the first Divine Liturgy was celebrated at Sts. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church on East 7th Street with a small group in attendance. Three weeks later, the growing parish moved to its present location at 288 East 10th Street, renting the building from the Episcopal Diocese of New York.
The building itself was constructed in 1882-1884 as the Memorial Chapel of St. Mark’s in the Bowery. The Renaissance Revival-style structure was built of red-orange brick and terra cotta. The Episcopal parish rented it to the Holy Trinity Slovak Lutheran Church in 1911 before St. Nicholas assumed the lease in 1925.
On January 29, 1937, the parish purchased the building for $38,000, naming it after St. Nicholas of Myra. The money came from personal loans by parishioners and two mortgages. In 1938, parishioners joined others at the Hudson River docks to bid farewell to Fr. Orestes P. Chornock, who sailed to Constantinople to be consecrated the first Bishop of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Diocese. The diocesan seminary was later located at St. Nicholas Church.
The parish became an ethnic center for Carpatho-Russian people in the metropolitan area, with a national club, language courses, and various cultural groups. In 2008, the building was designated a New York City landmark.
“This lively, picturesque church has anchored the neighborhood for more than 100 years and served thousands of immigrants as they tried to adapt to their new country,” said Robert B. Tierney, president of New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission.
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