Source: Patch.com, Miranda Levingston, Nov. 7, 2025
UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — The Upper West Side’s Community Board 7 voted this week 25-15 to reject an application to demolish the landmarked West Park Presbyterian Church on West 86th Street.
This rejection sides with preservation advocates, including the Center at West Park, a community arts center recently evicted from the church, who have fought to save the crumbling 19th-century building, which has spent the last 20 years covered in scaffolding.
The board’s decision marks the second time the community board has denied the Presbytery of New York City’s hardship claim that it can’t afford to maintain the 135-year-old Romanesque Revival church on West 86th Street and Amsterdam Avenue.