Nonprofit Offers $12 Million to Save West Park Presbyterian
The Center at West Park, which was removed from the W. 86th Street landmark after a court battle, believes that they have the funds to secure the church’s preservation.
| 16 Jul 2026 | 05:44
A nonprofit long associated with West Park Presbyterian Church now has a $12 million plan to save it from being sold for demolition. The church’s own congregation is pursuing the sale for financial reasons. (
)
After losing an eviction battle, The Center at West Park has since moved to St. Paul and St. Andrew Methodist Church, which is also located on W. 86th Street. (
)
The beloved arts nonprofit that was evicted out of West Park Presbyterian Church on E. 86th Street has a new plan to save the landmark from demolition, by offering $12.2 million to both restore the 174-year-old building and bolster its congregation’s finances.
The Center at West Park says that $7.2 million of that money would go towards the congregation’s coffers over the course of ten years, or a total of $720,000 year. The remaining $5 million would go towards “repairing and restoring the building, including the immediate facade repairs and the removal of the long-standing sidewalk shed at no cost to the Presbytery.”
That very same congregation happens to be behind the demolition push, however. Since 2020, they’ve planned on selling the property for $33 million to a luxury developer in order to shore up said finances, rather than spending them on restoring the battered building—which they believe is too costly.
Congregants have said that Alchemy Properties, the developer in question, would include 10,000 sq. ft. worth of worship space for them in whatever building replaces the church.
In turn, this has sparked a fierce and yearslong community effort to save the church, which has attracted allies ranging from The Center at West Park to Mark Ruffalo. New York City politicians have also thrown their weight behind preserving the church.
A coalition of such officials—which includes Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylmal-Sigal, City Council Member Gale Brewer, City Comptroller Mark Levine, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Assembly Member Micah Lasher, and State Senator Erik Bottcher—recently wrote a letter asking the Landmarks Preservation Commission to preserve the church, which they described as ““one of the Upper West Side’s most important buildings.”
Representatives for the congregation have since filed multiple “hardship” applications—the first one was withdrawn last January—with the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), which would remove landmark protections for West Park Presbyterian and allow the sale to proceed; those protections were established in 2010.
A new hardship application was filed in September 2025. There is no public meeting regarding their ruling on this application currently scheduled by the LPC, although the cutoff date for filing materials related to the proceedings was July 10. Hearings have also been held on the matter.
The board chair of The Center at West Park, Mitchell Schamroth, said in a statement that the new $12 million plan provided a “reasonable alternative” to the church’s demolition: “This proposal provides financial stability for the congregation, restores the landmark at private expense, and preserves an irreplaceable community institution.”
Schamroth also directly implored the LPC to deny the congregation the “hardship” designation it seeks.
“The Commission’s decision will resonate far beyond this single building,” he said. “This is a defining moment for New York City’s landmark preservation laws. If preservation is possible—and today it clearly is—the law requires that opportunity be taken seriously.”
The Center at West Park was ousted from church premises last July after a lengthy court battle, with an appeals court ruling that an eviction notice could be served a few months beforehand. They now operate out of St. Paul and St. Andrew Methodist Church, located at 263 W. 86th Street.