Staten Island- Mount Loretto Unique Area at winter.

[Jhihmoac]

I remember going into the old church (St. Joachim and St. Anne) for Christmas Eve service with some relatives that lived in the area back in the late 60s... Even though the church was part of the Mt. Loretto Complex, the then gigantic sanctuary still also served as the local RC parish for much of surrounding neighborhood as well... I remember hearing about the filming of one of the sequences of _The Godfather_ on the church's front steps in 1971, seeing the movie itself in 1972, and then reading in the paper about the huge fire that brought the entire building down late in 1973... Only the spire and most of the front facade survived... The church was rebuilt in 1975, but only at about 2/3 (could also have been 1/2) the size of the original structure... I'm not sure if the church is still used now, except for special weddings, baptisms, confirmations, etc.