Finding A Slice of History at Father Demo Square

After picking up a slice from the famous Joe’s Pizza in Greenwich Village I sat down to enjoy my delicious pepperoni slice on a park bench across the street. I have walked by and sat in this park many times over the years, but never thought about the historical significance of it until I noticed the name of the park today at the entrance: Father Demo Square. The reason I noticed it was because I have recently become more attuned to my surroundings throughout the city over the past couple weeks while in this theology course. Reading Dorothy Day’s The Long Loneliness immersed me into the history of downtown New York, specifically around the time of the Great Depression. For the past couple decades, the village has experienced a rapid transformation as a wealthy class of people now live in the area. It is interesting that the Italian Americans who were patrons of Our Lady of Pompeii during Father Demo’s tenure between 1900 – 1933 most likely would never be able to afford to live here. Even though the memorial is to this priest, the space ends up preserving the memory of a long lost community that used to live here.

While exploring the park at the southern end, I came across a raised disk-shaped cement monument with a dedication engraved on the face that gave further insight into the history and transformation of the area:

Dedicated by the Italian American community and their friends to the Reverend Antonio Demo, C.S., pastor of Our Lady of Pompeii Church from 1900 to 1933 and builder of the present church in 1926.

This brief description of Father Demo suggests that he was a man dedicated to the people who belonged to his church. It also tells us that the church was moved from its original location to the one on the southwest corner of the park. After a quick Google search I learned that the original church was in the path of a wrecking ball in order to extend Sixth Avenue south from it’s previous terminating point at 3^rd Street, one block north of the park, to Canal Street which is several blocks to the south. When Father Demo learned of the plans he successfully campaigned to have a new church built on the west side of the new Sixth Avenue and the construction began in 1926.

Demo’s loyalty to his congregation reminded me of Dorothy Day’s dedication to the work she talks about in her autobiography, specifically involving the poor houses which were located in different neighborhoods in lower Manhattan, and Day herself lived on West Charles Street, not far from here. It is interesting that Dorothy Day was working around the same time as construction on the new church was underway and both of their mission’s were to provide a sanctuary for one to feel at home, whether it was a church or the houses that Day set up.

The last thing I saw was a circular marker set in the paving stone that indicated that this was a New York City park dedicated in 2007 under Mayor Bloomberg. It is interesting because the space is publically maintained but strongly attached to the legacy of the neighboring Catholic Church. The Park itself provides a urban sanctuary in the middle of a busy neighborhood. There is a strongly flowing fountain at the center, leafy trees enclosing the area on all sides and even signs posted on either end that designate it a “quiet zone”. Where else in Manhattan do you see a “quiet zone” posted outside in the middle of the city with trucks and buses flying by?  Yet even with all the traffic, here in Father Demo Square one can reach a moment of peace.