Iran Press/ America: A historic church in lower Manhattan that houses New York’s Liberty Bell and whose congregation dates to the city’s earliest days was gutted early on Saturday by a massive fire that sent flames shooting through the roof.
The Middle Collegiate Church in the East Village burned before dawn after a fire spread from an adjacent five-story vacant building at around 5 AM local time. Flames shot from the roof and the church’s stately front window glowed from the blaze inside.
The fire department said in an Instagram post that there were four minor injuries to firefighters and that marshals were investigating the blaze.
Built in 1892, the church is home to the oldest congregation of the Collegiate Churches of New York, which date to the Dutch settlement of the island in the 1620s, according to the church's website. 219
