from two tiny rooms high up and far back in st . augustine ' s parish church , with its neo - georgian archways , straight - headed pews and complex , graceful detail , the legacy of slavery in nyc looked down . the sandstone building , on henry street and montgomery hall on the near east side , was built for a patrician colored congregation . but although it was completed in 1828 , a season after racism was legally abolished in old york state , within the ceiling and on this side of the window are two isolated rooms , built so that black worshipers could gather there without being seen by white parishioners .
St. Augustine's Episcopal Church is in Manhattan.