The Village Voice

Supporters of St. Brigid's church won a second reprieve Thursday when a judge extended the temporary restraining order barring the Archdiocese from continuing its demolition of the embattled East Village cathedral. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Barbara Kapnick extended the order to allow both sides to submit further arguments in writing. She said she would rule on the fate of so-called Famine Church "shortly after" Labor Day. "Thank the Lord!" exclaimed Edwin Torres, who is one of 73 former parishioners now suing the Archdiocese to block the demolition. "We can rejoice, but only for a little while," he told a crowd of ecstatic local residents, preservationists, and Irish Americans gathered outside the courthouse. "Today gives us hope," added East Village Council rep Rosie Mendez, one of several area politicians who praised the 158-year-old church as a crucible of Lower East Side immigrant history. "It gives us another day to fight, and for people to see that this struggle is just and correct."