University Avenue (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard and Fordham Road Delaney, O’Connor & Schultz 1928 A person standing at the intersection of Fordham Road and University Avenue (now also called Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard) is struck by the huge stone cathedral-like St. Nicholas of Tolentine Roman Catholic Church on its southwest corner. The church, however, was originally not so impressive and was not on its

current site. Toward the end of 1905, a Catholic parish was created to serve the growing Irish population of the area. At the end of April, 1906, ground was broken for a church on Andrews Avenue (one block west of University Avenue) south of Fordham Road.

 

When finished in 1907, it sat over 500 people, then more than the existing parish population. In 1911, New York City paved and expanded Fordham Road, taking some church property for the project. Land on University Avenue behind the church was obtained in compensation.

 

 

In 1917, Father Blazius J. Zeiser was appointed the parish priest. At first, he tried to beautify the old church. However, the coming to Fordham Road of the elevated portion of the nearby Jerome Avenue line of the Lexington Avenue subway led to an influx of people and the erection of apartment houses. Attendance at Mass overflowed. Father Zeiser bought more land at Andrews and University avenues and Fordham Road in 1923 and began planning a new, larger, church in 1926.

 

The new church, in Gothic style, is made of rock-faced ashlar with limestone trim. Flanking the entrance, twin towers rise 120 feet above the street and are topped by parapets and open top turrets. The entry façade is angled toward the intersection and is divided into three sections. The main doorway is set in a high-corbelled Tudor arch. This section projects out from the façade of the rest of the building and is dominated by a larger stained glass window also set in a Tudor arch. The upper part of the window has a large rosette and two small rosettes. In the base of the two towers are smaller entryways also set in Tudor arches.

 

 

Inside is an upper church having a 65-foot high nave with transepts that seats 1,400 people. A lower church has an 18-foot high ceiling that holds 1,200 parishioners. When Patrick Cardinal Hayes dedicated the church on April 28, 1928, almost all of the parishioners were of Irish stock. Today, Masses are celebrated in English, Spanish and Vietnamese.

 

Lloyd Ultan