Decades before Disney showed up with the Windex, the Church of the Holy Cross was ridding Times Square of riffraff.
The historic church, just across West 42nd Street from the Port Authority Bus Terminal, has since the early 1900s worked doggedly with politicians, cops and community groups to combat poverty, crime and drugs in the neighborhood.
Now, the 156-year-old Holy Cross needs help.
A devastating rectory fire and a theft at its food pantry have heaped nearly $200,000 in bills on the already financially floundering parish. And even before the fire damage, the church was facing repair bills for its crumbling ceiling and walls.
It also struggles each year to meet the costs of funding a pantry that feeds 18,200 of New York’s neediest.
Nearly half the students in its parish school require financial assistance for the $2,950-a-year tuition.
The Holy Cross Christmas appeal will aid one of New York’s most storied churches. As a young parish, Holy Cross sent its sons off to battle alongside celebrated World War I “Fighting 69th” Army chaplain Father Patrick Duffy. The priest returned after victory to become pastor of the parish.