The garden of Gethsemane is going, going, gone! After six months of negotiations — and protests from some neighbors of the Eighth Avenue chapel — the Church of Gethsemane has sold its 10th Street garden to local real-estate broker Tim Betancourt, who says he will build a five-story building there.
“We had the closing about a week ago,” said Rev. Liz Alexander, who leads the Presbyterian congregation. “We didn’t want to sell the space, but we’re relieved because it will keep the church alive and we’ll able to look forward to many more years. We have a very special mission in this church.”
Betancourt, who did not respond to a request for comment, has filed plans with the Buildings Department to construct a five-story residential building on the lot, which sits directly adjacent to the church on a prime spot just one block from the F train and Prospect Park.
The church, which is ironically named after the garden where Christ was betrayed by Judas, was founded in 1989 with the mission to serve people who have been in prison or who have relatives in prison. Meanwhile, the church’s neighbors in the fast-gentrifying neighborhood have been on a mission to preserve what they regard as a precious green space.
“I am very sad, but realize we did as much as we could to convince the church to pursue another avenue,” wrote Peggy Cyphers in a mass e-mail to a group she founded to oppose the church’s plans.
Like Betancourt, Alexander clammed up when our questions turned to money.
“It’s bittersweet for us,” was all she’d say. “We hate to see the property go, but as stewards of what God has given us, the money will go into an endowment to help keep the church alive.”
