St. Thomas Church West 118th Street

The parish was established in 1889 for, ever changing, immigrant groups. The present church was built 1907 to designs by Thomas H. Poole & Company, and dedicated the same year. The interior was noted for its remarkable fan vaulting and celebrated German stained glass (from the still operating studio of Mayer of Munich, famed stained glass makers for the Holy See and Catholic churches around the world). The AIA Guide to NYC describes the church as follows: “No name is to be found on this church, but its finely detailed neo-Gothic façade, prominently entered via a stairway and an arcaded porch, demands attention.”

The church had many notable connections, including Harry Belafonte's family, who worshipped there; "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was said to have been baptized in this church; Hulan E. Jack, the first black borough president of Manhattan, was buried from here."

Lacking funds, clergy, and students for its attached parish school, the Catholic Order of Salesians of Don Bosco assumed control over the church and school in 1979, and are largely assumed to have rescued the church, closing the school and reusing it as a community center/computer skills training facility for young women. The training center remained open after the church's closure.