Announced Mass for Tour Guide Bernie Cohen at St. Bernard's Church

This is a cross-listing of an event I just put up in my group, "Great Places in Gotham".

We have a lot of people on the mailing list for our walking tour group, so it's likely that some of you may have known Bernie Cohen of "Bernie's New York" walking tours. As a matter of fact, he was the single biggest influence on my decision to become a walking tour guide myself. Sadly, Bernie passed away in October 2021, although I was not informed of that for many months. The Mass being offered at this church will be in his name, as one does not need to be Catholic in order to have others pray for the repose of one's soul.

Here are the details for Saturday evening's service if anyone should wish to join me:

There are many interesting houses of worship in New York City, and the best way to experience them is to attend a service as we at "Great Places in Gotham" have done in the past. This time, we'll be visiting the first church in Manhattan ever consecrated by an American cardinal, way back in the 1870s!

The official name now of this church is "Our Lady of Guadalupe at St. Bernard", because it is one of the increasingly common merged parishes in the Archdiocese. This building was erected from 1873-75 in a style referred to as Ruskinian Gothic, and was designed by Patrick Keely, who designed over 700 churches over a long career. If you've been on my walking tour of "Brooklyn Heights South: Churches, War, and Real Estate", you will have have seen one of his other churches, St. Charles Borromeo on Sidney Place. The merger with Our Lady of Guadalupe took place in 2003, and since then, the sanctuary has incorporated elements from that shuttered church building. Our Lady of Guadalupe was established in 1902 in its original building to serve and continues to serve a Spanish-speaking community. At one time, this part of Manhattan was nicknamed "Little Spain". This Saturday evening Mass will be conducted in English, though many services here are in Spanish.

Here's a link to their latest weekly bulletin, which features a photo of the facade of the church: https://files.ecatholic.com/6628/documents/2023/7/Bulletin%20July%2023%202023.pdf?t=1689950797000

The particular reason for the visit to this church is because the Mass is being offered for the late Bernie Cohen of "Bernie's New York" walking tours. A quintessential New Yorker, Bernie led a few tours for us a number of years ago when "Great Places in Gotham" was just getting started, and was a good friend of mine. He passed away back in October 2021.

WHEN TO MEET: This service is slated to start at 5:00 pm, so for us to meet and sit together, please get there early at 4:45pm. I will be standing in the vestibule, holding a handwritten sign reading MEETUP. Take a good look at my profile picture to recognize me!

WHERE: This Mass will be held at Our Lady of Guadalupe at St. Bernard's Roman Catholic Church. This church is located midblock on East 14 Street between 8th and 9th avenues. The crosstown 14th Street bus goes right past it, and the closest subway is the A,C,E,L at "14 Street".

COST: The event itself is free, but there is our usual $1 Meetup fee to help pay for the subscription. Just give it to me when we meet. Chances are that there will be a collection, so you may want to have a donation fee ready for that, too.