New York, NY
Chelsea Methodist Church (a.k.a. Broadway Temple
Methodist Church)
Builder: Skinner Organ Company Year: 1929 Opus: 804
No. manuals: 4 No. stops: 70 No. ranks: 68
Specification
Great
16' Bourdon PED (conjecture) 8' Principal 8' Clarabella 8' Erzahler 4' Octave 4' Flute Harmonique 2 2/3' Twelfth 2' Fifteenth V Harmonics 16' Posaune 8' Trumpet 4' Clarion
Swell
16' Bourdon 8' Open Diapason 8' Clarabella 8' Rohr Flute 8' Salicional 8' Voix Celeste 8' Echo Viole 8' Flauto Dolce 8' Flute Celeste tc 4' Octave 4' Flute Triangulaire 4' Violina 2' Flautino IV Cornet V Mixture 16' Posaune 8' Trumpet 8' Oboe 8' Vox Humana 4' Clarion Tremolo
Choir
16' Gamba 8' Open Diapason 8' Gamba 8' Orchestral Flute 8' Dulciana 8' Unda Maris tc 4' Gambette 4' Flauto Traverso 2 2/3' Nazard 2' Piccolo 1 3/5' Tierce 8' Clarinet 8' Orchestral Oboe Tremolo
Solo
8' Stentorphone 8' Flauto Mirabilis 8' Gross Gamba 8' Gamba Celeste 4' Orchestral Flute 8' Tuba Mirabilis 8' French Horn 8' English Horn 4' Tuba Clarion Tremolo
Pedal (mostly conjecture)
32' Bourdon 16' Open Diapason 16' Contra Bass 16' Bourdon 12 16' Gamba CH 16' Echo Lieblich SW 8' Octave 12 8' Gedeckt 12 8' Cello 12 8' Still Gedeckt SW 4' Flute 12 32' Bombarde 16' Trombone 12 16' Waldhorn SW 8' Tromba 12 4' Clarion 12
Source: Allen Kinzey.
Notes: According to From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship, "The 12-story apartment buildings that flank the modest Broadway Temple Methodist Church at 4111 Broadway were supposed to have been mere bookend pedestals for a skyscraper with a revolving electric cross rising 725 feet into the sky, an auditorium seating several thousand, a social hall for 1,200, a pool and gymnasium, and more than 400 hotel rooms and apartments. This marvelously mad project was the brainchild of the Rev. Christian F. Reisner, pastor of the Chelsea Methodist Episcopal Church.
When the church's former location was required by the George Washington Bridge, this "was Reisner's cue to undertake a 'magnificent advertisement of God's business.' The apartments opened in 1927, followed the next year by the social hall, gymnasium and bowling alley. But, the depression put an end to the greater scheme. Reisner's successor oversaw the construction in 1952 of a three-story sanctuary by the architects of the Empire State Building."