| St. Nicholas Collegiate Reformed Protestant Dutch Church | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Gothic Revival architecture |
| Town or city | New York City |
| Country | United States |
| Construction started | ? |
| Completed | 1872 |
| Demolished | 1949 |
| Cost | ? |
| Technical details | |
| Structural system | Brownstone Gothic |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | W. Wheeler Smith |
St. Nicholas Collegiate Reformed Protestant Dutch Church was a Reformed Protestant Dutch church in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that at the time of its demolition in 1949 was the oldest congregation in Manhattan. The church was located on the northwest corner of Fifth Avenue and Forty-eighth Street. The church was built in 1872 to Gothic Revival designs in brownstone by architect W. Wheeler Smith and "distinguished by an elegantly tapered spire that, according to John A. Bradley in the New York Times, 'many declare…the most beautiful in this country.'" The congregation dated back to 1628.
In the 1920s, the governing body of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Churches of New York considered putting the church up for sale, which prompted an early preservation campaign in New York with the Rev. Dr. Joseph R. Sizoo, the church’s minster, arguing that the church was “a shrine” and its sale would put the dollar sign before the cross. Despite initial success, the tension between the minister with congregation and the pro-sale church governing body led most of the congregation and Dr. Sizoo to leave. The governing body pitched the sale again, and after "considerable public debate," the church was demolished to make way for the former Sinclair Oil Building at 596 Fifth Avenue,[1] now 600 Fifth Avenue.