Landmarks Preservation Commission September 19, 2017, Designation List 498 LP-2593 OLD SAINT JAMES EPISCOPAL CHURCH (now Old Saint James Parish Hall) 86-02 Broadway (aka 85-08 51st Avenue), Queens Built: 1735-36; enlarged: c. 1772; altered: 1883 Landmark Site: Borough of Queens Tax Map Block 1549 Lot 1 in part, consisting of the portion of the lot bounded by a line beginning at the southeast corner of the lot, continuing westerly along the southern lot line to a point five feet west of the rear roofline of the church, thence continuing northerly along a line parallel with the rear of the church to the northern lot line, thence continuing easterly along the northern lot line to the northeast corner of the lot, thence extending easterly along the sidewalk fence contiguous with the northern lot line, thence continuing southerly along the sidewalk fence in front of the east frontage of the church, thence continuing westerly along the sidewalk fence to the point where it meets the eastern lot line, thence continuing southerly to the point of beginning, as shown in the attached map. On August 8, 2017, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing on the proposed designation of Old Saint James Episcopal Church (now Old Saint James Parish Hall) (Research Department Public Hearing Item No. 1). The hearing had been duly advertised in accordance with the provisions of the law. Five people spoke in favor of designation, including two representatives of the owner, the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island and CWB Architects; and representatives from the New York Landmarks Conservancy, Historic Districts Council, and the Society for the Architecture of the City. The Commission also received letters in favor of designation from New York City Council Member Daniel Dromm, United States Congresswoman Grace Meng, State Senator Tony Avella, the Queens Preservation Council, the Juniper Park Civic Association, Newtown Historical Society, Communities of Maspeth and Elmhurst Together (C.O.M.E.T.), and two individuals. Summary Built in 1735-36, Old Saint James Episcopal Church is significant for its association with the early Colonial settlement of Queens and with the mission activity of the Church of England in the American colonies. A remarkable Colonial-era mission church, it retains its early 18th-century rectangular box-like form, wood shingle siding, round-arched windows, and heavy- timber framing. It is New York City’s oldest Church of England (Episcopal) building and the City’s second oldest religious building that is still standing. The exterior appearance today is the result of a late-19th- century remodeling that was typical of stylistic preferences for religious buildings at the time. As a parish hall in the 19th and 20th centuries, it served an important role in the community’s social and religious life. 1

Elmhurst (formerly Newtown) was founded in 1652, one of the earliest European settlements in Queens. In 1702, the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, under the Bishop of London, formed a Church of England mission parish composed of Newtown, Flushing, and Jamaica. In 1735-36 the Newtown congregation constructed Old Saint James Church on land that had been deeded by the town. As built, it was a meetinghouse design with a west-end tower. In 1761 the parish separated from Jamaica and Flushing and formally became the “Church of England Parish of Saint James.” In 1772, the building was lengthened and the main entry moved from the south side to the Broadway facade. Prominent citizens associated with the parish included the Reverend Benjamin Moore, a president of Kings College (later Columbia College), and the Reverend Samuel Seabury, Jr., the first American Episcopal Bishop. British troops spared the building during the Revolutionary War. In 1787 Saint James became one of the founding parishes in the New York Episcopal Diocese. In 1848, after a period of growth, the parish built a larger church a block away an

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