I have stepped into the Calvary chapel 7 or 8 times. As with Calvary Cemetery itself I circled the chapel structure for years before actually entering.
It took several months of passing the Greenpoint Avenue entrance before entering the grounds. I found it not blasphemous but self-serving to think I had business on burial grounds with no connection.
This lack of family connection, I eventually reminded myself, is among the many reasons I moved to New York in the first place. Game on.
The chapel presented a similar barrier to entry, a barrier psychologically connected to the lapsed Catholic in me who feels his disinterest in attending regular services grants him no right to church facilities.
I don’t remember when I first entered the chapel but 7 years ago sounds about right.
The place is a musty, claustrophobic dump. Some Glade air fresheners and a few cans of paint to cover the century+ old walls would go a long way toward making the space more inspiring.
If this is the centerpiece of Old Calvary then the crux needs some lux.
None of this commentary is meant to detract from the value of the services held here every Saturday at 10am.
I did not have quality photo gear on me yesterday when I got these shots. I used a refurbished Sony DSC-HX50 point and shoot. With the help of third party Photoshop filters (which cost more than the freakin’ camera and which I do not remember purchasing) the shots came out OK, considering the low light.
I can’t put a finger on why but it felt weird taking pictures in the Calvary chapel. A sign in front of the altar warning “ALARM IN OPERATION DO NOT ENTER” made me feel I was walking on eggshells, with no way to know where the alarm zone began.
Alarms are everywhere since 9/11, proudly representing the ignorance of American paranoia.
