Multiple faiths used 1864 building before it was converted into the Paul Robeson Theater. On October 25, 2011, Landmarks designated the St. Casimir’s Roman Catholic Church at 40 Greene Avenue in Brooklyn as an individual City landmark. Originally named the Church of the Redeemer, the church was built in 1864 for the Fourth Universalist Society. Temple Israel, one of Brooklyn’s earliest Reform congregations, purchased the church and converted it into a synagogue. In 1890, Temple Israel sold the building to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, who added a steeple and an apse to the structure.

St. Casimir’s occupied the building until 1980 when it merged with Our Lady of Czechostowa parish. Dr. Josephine English, New York’s first African-American female OB/GYN, purchased the building and converted it into the Paul Robeson Theater.  (read more…)