Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Catholic Chapel - New York City (photo: Jim Henderson)
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Chapel of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary
(Roman Catholic)

325 East 33rd Street
New York, N.Y. 10016
http://churchofststephen.com/au_h_sacred.htm


Organ Specifications:
Present building (since 2009)
► I/5 J.H. & C.S. Odell, Op. 653 (2014) – reb. Roosevelt, Op. 53 (1879)
First building (1916-2007)
► II/26 George Jardine & Son (1885); moved (1915)



The Parish of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary was established in 1914 to serve Italian Catholics. At the time, there were over 10,000 people of Italian extraction living in the area bounded by 23rd and 42nd Streets, Lexington Avenue and the East River. Msgr. Joseph M. Congedo was the first pastor.

Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Catholic Church - New York City (photo: James Russiello)  
Original Church (1916-2007)  
On October 4, 1915, the cornerstone of the new parish church was laid by John Cardinal Farley. Located on East 33rd Street in the Kip's Bay area, the $35,000 building was designed by Nicholas Serracino in the Greek Revival-style and faced with white brick. The completed church was dedicated on October 1, 1916, by His Excellency Archbishop John Bonzano, Apostolic Delegate to the United States. The parish plant increased in size as adjoining buildings were added to the property.

The cornerstone of the parish school by the same name was laid in the Spring of 1925. Staffed by the Sister Servants of the Immaculata, the high school for girls was named Immaculata High School, after the heavenly patroness of their dedicated Sisters. The parish school closed in 1937, and the high school closed in the 1970s.

In 2007, the parish was merged with the Church of Our Lady of the Scapular–St. Stephen, located at 151 East 28th Street; during the next year the church building and school were razed. On the same site was built the present Chapel of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary that was dedicated in May 2009. The Chapel serves a home for the Immaculata High School Alumni as well as a meditation place for the local medical facilities of NYU Langone Medical Center, Bellevue Hospital, the Office of the Medical Examiner, and the VA Hospital. The facility also includes the residence of Cardinal Egan who retired in 2009.
 
  J.S. & C.S. Odell organ, Op. 653 (2014) in the Chapel of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary - New York City
 
J.H. & C.S. Odell
East Haddam, Conn. – Opus 653 (2014)
Mechanical action
1 manual, 5 stops, 5 ranks


The organ in the Chapel was originally built in 1879 by Hilborne Roosevelt of New York City and installed in the chancel choir gallery of St. Stephen's Roman Catholic Church on East 28th Street. Roosevelt's Op. 53 had mechanical action controlling one five stops on one manual. In 1920, St. Stephen's commissioned W.W. Kimball of Chicago to build a new four-manual organ (K.P.O. 6567). Kimball retained and electrified the Roosevelt organ as the Chancel division of the new instrument.

In 2012, J.H. & C.S. Odell of East Haddam, Conn., was contracted to restore the Roosevelt organ to mechanical action and install it in the new Chapel of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Odell reused the original double-rise reservoir but built an entirely new chassis. A new case of quarter-sawn white oak with ebony accents has a façade which includes ten new speaking pipes of the 8' Open Diapason. The organ's pitch is A=455, and the wind pressure is 64mm (2½ inches).
               
Manual – 58 notes
8
   Open Diapason
58
        
8
   Stopped Diapason
58
        
8
   Dulciana
58
        
4
   Principal
58
        

     

     
Pedal – 30 notes
16
   Bourdon
30
        
 

Organ in first building:

W.W. Kimball Co.
Chicago, Ill. (1905)
Tubular-pneumatic action; elec. in 1958
2 manuals, 23 stops, 26 ranks


The organ in Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Church was originally built in 1885 by George Jardine & Son, New York City, for the Bloomingdale Reformed Church in Upper Manhattan. The specification for this organ is from the files of Louis F. Mohr & Co., a longtime organ service firm in the area. Mohr indicated that the organ was rebuilt in 1905 by the W.W. Kimball Company who installed tubular-pneumatic action and new pneumatic chests. Kimball also replaced or rebuilt the console with "A.G.O. standard" compasses of 61 manual keys and 30 pedal keys, although the extra treble pipes of each rank were not added. Mohr noted that the organ had an oak case with 31 front pipes in gold, and that the console had a mahogany interior. The organ had 3" and 5" wind pressure provided by a 1½ h.p. Kinetic blower. Bloomingdale Reformed Church disbanded in 1913, and in 1915 Kimball relocated the organ to Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Church. The organ was electrified in 1958.
               
Great Organ (Manual I) – 58 notes (61 keys)
16
   Open Diapason
58
4
   Flute Harmonique
58
8
   Open Diapason
58
2 2/3
  Nazard
58
8
   Doppel Flute
58
2
   Piccolo
58
8
   Gamba
58
     Sesquialtera, 3 ranks
174
8
   Melodia
58
8
   Trumpet
58
4
   Principal
58
        

     

     
Swell Organ (Manual II) – 58 notes (61 keys), enclosed
16
   Bourdon Bass
17
8
   Clariana
58
16
   Bourdon Treble
41
4
   Violana
58
8
   Open Diapason
58
2
   Flageolet
58
8
   Gedeckt
58
     Cornet, 2 ranks
116
8
   Aeoline
58
8
   Oboe
58

     

     
Pedal Organ – 27 notes (30 keys)
16
  Open Diapason
27
8
   Violoncello
27
16
   Bourdon
27
        
               
Couplers ["4 couplers"]
    [Great to Pedal]       [Swell to Great]  
    [Swell to Pedal]       [Swell to Great Octaves]  
               
Pedal Movements
    3 Pedal Combinations to Great  
    3 Pedal Combinations to Swell  
    Balance Swell Pedal          
               
Accessories
    Wind Indicator       [Swell Tremolo]  
   
Sources:
     Chapel of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary website: churchofststephen.com/au_h_sacred.htm
     Dunlap, David W. From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.
     J.S. & C.S. Odell website: www.odellorgans.com. Specification of J.H. & C.S. Odell organ, Op. 653 (2014).
     Shelley, Thomas J. The Bicentennial History of the Archdiocese of New York 1808-2008. Strasbourg: Éditions du Signe, 2007.
     Smith, Rollin. Stoplist of organ by unknown builder.

Illustrations:
     Henderson, Jim. Chapel of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (Exterior, 2011).
     J.S. & C.S. Odell website. J.H. & C.S. Odell organ, Op. 653 (2014).
     Russiello, James. Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (Exterior, 2007).