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Coney Island Cathedral Celebrates Renovations Three Years After Being Devastated By Sandy

Alex Ellefson

— 3 min read
Coney Island Cathedral Celebrates Renovations Three Years After Being Devastated By Sandy
Coney Island Cathedral's Bishop Waylyn Hobbs prepares to cut the ribbon on the newly renovated church. City Councilman Mark Treyger and Assemblywoman Pamela Harris, who played a role in helping to rebuild, wait amongst the parishioners.
Coney Island Cathedral’s Bishop Waylyn Hobbs prepares to cut the ribbon on the newly renovated church. City Councilman Mark Treyger and Assemblywoman Pamela Harris, who played a role in helping to rebuild, wait amongst the parishioners. (Photo: Alex Ellefson / Sheepshead Bites)

Well, the new ceiling holds. That’s for sure.

Jubilation nearly blew the roof off the newly renovated Coney Island Cathedral Sunday when the congregation held a rededication ceremony three years after Superstorm Sandy’s flood waters left their church in ruins.

“We are so grateful for this day of celebration. And it’s so good to see so many familiar faces at this homecoming,” Bishop Waylyn Hobbs told his parishioners.

Churchgoers celebrate the rededication of Coney Island Cathedral.
Churchgoers celebrate the rededication of Coney Island Cathedral. (Photo: Alex Ellefson / Sheepshead Bites)

As we previously reported, Coney Island Cathedral was cut off from receiving FEMA funds due to federal laws requiring a separation of church and state. Despite this, the congregation refused to abandon the property and continued to hold service inside their gutted building.

Bishop Waylyn Hobbs leads the congregation in prayer.
Bishop Waylyn Hobbs leads the congregation in prayer. (Photo: Alex Ellefson / Sheepshead Bites)

With the help of City Councilman Mark Treyger, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, and New York Disaster Interfaith Services (NYDIS), a faith-based nonprofit, Coney Island Cathedral was able to secure $260,000 from the Christian relief group Samaritan’s Purse to help rebuild. The money went towards restoring the walls, floors, and stage, as well as installing better plumbing and electrical wiring.

“It was these houses of worship that played a critical role in the hours and days immediately after Sandy that helped feed people, give them shelter, even when they themselves were under extreme inundation,” explained Treyger. “So the stronger our houses of worship are, the stronger the fiber of our neighborhoods.”

Coney Island Cathedral after Superstorm Sandy.
Coney Island Cathedral after Superstorm Sandy. (Photo: Bishop Waylyn Hobbs)

Hundreds of people poured through the church doors Sunday following a formal ribbon cutting outside on Mermaid Avenue, where the church is located at the corner of West 29th Street. Inside, Hobbs and other church leaders gave rousing sermons celebrating the community’s effort to rebuild. The choir and dance group, meanwhile, riled up parishioners with electric performances.

Members of the CIC Praise Dancers.
Members of the CIC Praise Dancers. (Photo: Alex Ellefson / Sheepshead Bites)

“The camaraderie here has been what’s made this such a strong, well-knitted community church,” said recently-elected Assemblywoman Pamela Harris, who said she worked to secure additional recover funds for Coney Island Cathedral when she was head of the community service organization Coney Island Generation Gap.

“This church really is a way of life for Coney Island,” she said.

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