The 1960s - Part 7 The Churches OK, I'm cheating a little bit as a only a few churches are in this series and some pictures slip back into the 1950s, but they are part of the same collection which spawned our 1960s series.
		St. Patrick's Day Parade I found these images in a large lot of St. Michael's negatives. The date of the parade was March 17, 1964.
		St. Patrick's Day Parade I assume these views are north up Fifth Avenue. Hopefully someone can ID themselves or someone they know.
		St. Patrick's Day Parade It will be pretty cool if we can find or ID the boy in the image.
		St. Rita's Youth Center Dedication, June 2, 1957 We are watching the procession from the church, looking west along Atlantic Avenue toward Essex Street. I matched a shot from today, though mildly depressing everything is still standing.
		St. Rita's Youth Center Dedication, June 2, 1957 Now we are looking south across Atlantic Avenue along Shepherd Avenue. This block was rededicated as Msgr. John T. Peyton Avenue in 2014. Msgr. Peyton served St. Ritas for 25 years until his passing in 2008.
		St. Rita's Youth Center Dedication, June 2, 1957 A few inside shots. When I first got my hands on these images I immediately sent them to longtime site fan and supporter Tony Della Croce. His response; "The pictures brought a flood of memories back to me. I clearly remember the day (rain !), the procession from the Church to the Youth Center and the dedication ceremony itself. I am the altar boy in the very lower left of the first picture (side view); my cousin Sal Culotta is the altar boy serving as Cross Bearer. I also recognize several of the other altar boys and priests as well as a few faces in the crowd. (Could it possibly have been 57 years ago!)"
		St. Malachy's, Van Siclen Avenue, fireman's funeral Again, I'm hoping someone recalls this event and can pinpoint a date or the name of the fallen fireman. My own research only turned up one possibility; firefighter Robert Neal died while fighting a blaze at Junius Street in 1961. However I believe these images may be circa 1964.
		."St. Malachy's, fireman's funeral The brownstones along Van Siclen are still there today, though we all know St. Malachy's was demolished and a smallplayground is on the site today.
		St. Michael's gymnasium, circa 1960 I have a tremendous volume of St. Michael's material, and here's a small sample. These images were taken in the gym circa 1960; I have no idea what they are doing.
		St. Michael's, circa 1960 The LOOK magazine in the picture on the left is from 1959, helping to provide a rough date on the images. I presume they were posing for yearbook photos.
		This one will be a real test, because its not East New York. In fact, its not even standing anymore. This is the interior of what was Our Lady of Lourdes Church on Aberdeen Street just over the Bushwick border. The "grotto" behind the altar was well known and the calling card of the church so to speak. These negatives were in an envelope entitled "St. Michael's Confirmation March 28, 1957". It's not clear if this was a joint exercise, perhaps someone has better details. Our Lady of Lourdes would merge with Fourteen Holy Martyrs and the church was demolished after suffering fire damage.