by Katie Vasquez
Behind a blue door on Sixth Avenue lies the only perpetual adoration chapel in Manhattan.
St. Joseph’s Church pastor, Father Boniface Endorf said the process to transform the chapel from a choir room took about four and a half years, with some construction delays due to the pandemic.
“The floors, the ceilings, the walls, absolutely everything you can see is new,” Father Endorf said.
The opening of this sanctuary comes at a time when crime is on the minds of New Yorkers and the number of felonies is rising across the city.
The chapel is located within the area covered by the NYPD’s 6th Precinct, which has reported a 21% increase in felony assault from last year.
Parishioner Maureen Healy has lived in the neighborhood for 30 years and said she’s been more cautious.
“I’m very careful walking in the streets now. Because there are a lot of strange people now and I’m just being very very careful,” Healy said.
Father Endorf hopes the chapel will be a sanctuary of peace for people that visit.
“Certainly, God’s grace is very powerful,” Father Endorf said. “And to have prayer at the center of this neighborhood of Manhattan and of the city will have an effect on many people’s lives.”
There are security measures in place. Visitors have to sign up for a key card to access the outside door and they also ask people to sign into a kiosk before they go in.
“It’s to protect the space but also to protect the adorers,” Father Endorf said. “If they know the people here are people coming to worship and as you know in New York, if you just leave an open door, you don’t know what’s going to happen.”
The chapel has only been open since late July, but 300 people have already signed up, including Daniel Vignon, who visits once a week.
The Greenwich Village resident agrees with the registration process because he knows safety is a top priority.
“I can definitely understand that from the Father’s concern about safety because that’s one of the main reasons why the parish is not always open,” Vignon said.
Father Endorf hopes more people will come to pray and enjoy the space.