St. Athanasius Church

The Church of St. Athanasius is a Roman Catholic parish church under the authority of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, located at Tiffany Street between Fox Street and Southern Boulevard, Longwood, Bronx, New York City. It is dedicated to Saint Athanasius of Alexandria, a Doctor of the Church.HistoryArchbishop John Murphy Farley commissioned the parish in 1907, purchasing the entire city block for $58,000. The cornerstone was laid on May 31, 1908 by Cardinal Logue, Archbishop of Armagh, who was visiting on the occasion of the centenary of the Archdiocese of New York. The building was solemnly dedicated on February 21, 1909.The parish has long been prominent in serving its low-income neighborhood, in partnership with St. Anthony of Padua. Of note are longtime pastor Fr. Louis R. Gigante— brother of notorious gangster Vincent "the Chin" Gigante— who founded the Simpson Street Development Association in 1967; and Sister Miriam Thomas. Thomas, a nun who came to St. Athanasius in 1962 as a teacher, and who joined with Gigante to found the South East Bronx Community Organization (SEBCO) in 1968. SEBCO collects federal Section 8 funds to convert abandoned buildings into affordable housing. Another neighborhood activist group, the Mid-Bronx Desperadoes, was co-founded by St. Athanasius priest Fr. William Smith in 1974 In 1985, Thomas even organized the first Hunts Point Halloween parade, in 1985