Historic Brooklyn Church Destroyed by “Devastating” Fire
The South Bushwick Community Church’s signature octagonal spire collapsed during a three-alarm blaze on Friday.
Brooklyn's South Bushwick Community Church is seeking to raise $2 million after a three-alarm blaze caused devastating damage on Friday, June 19.
The 173-year-old Dutch Reformed church caught fire around 1:30 pm on Friday and continued to burn for hours afterward, a New York Fire Department spokesperson told Hyperallergic. The cause of the incident is still under investigation.
FDNY members responded to a 3-alarm fire at a church on Bushwick Avenue in Brooklyn on Friday afternoon. Units arrived within three minutes of receiving the call and quickly encountered a heavy fire condition. Within 20 minutes, the incident escalated to a third alarm, bringing a… pic.twitter.com/H1RhG38ky4
— FDNY (@FDNY) June 20, 2026
Videos taken during the event captured the church's signature octagonal spire collapsing into the flames. Its steeple was also destroyed, and the flames reduced some sections of the church, including its facade, to its bare wooden framing. When Hyperallergic visited the site on Monday, June 22, a green fence surrounded the hollowed-out structure.
New York City landmarked the church in 1968 for its aesthetic and historical character, including its late Greek Revival architecture.
In a GoFundMe created by the church, its pastor, Reverend James E. Steward II, asked for donations to fund a "temporary worship space" and restoration efforts, including engineering reviews. So far, the campaign has raised $7,052 in donations toward a $ 2 million goal.
“South Bushwick Church has served as more than a building,” Steward said in his appeal. “It has been a home for worship, prayer, youth programs, community outreach, food assistance, pastoral care, and countless life-changing moments.”
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso took to social media to encourage community members to donate to the church's fundraiser.
According to local outlets, New York Attorney General Letitia James also visited the church on Friday, delivering optimistic remarks about the congregation's future. “This is a landmark, so that means they are getting grants, they will get funding, this will be rebuilt,” she told Brooklyn News 12.
