Help Landmark Visitation: Our Home. Our History. For All Time.

Monastery Square—the 7.5-acre Visitation Academy and Monastery campus at 8902 Ridge Boulevard in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn—is under contract for sale and faces redevelopment that will permanently alter this historic place. We must act now to advocate for landmark protection before irreplaceable pieces of history are lost.

The campus’s story began long before Visitation. In the nineteenth century, it was home to the Kings County Inebriates’ Home, an institution that treated alcoholism and opiate addiction and admitted both men and women. Its surviving buildings, what we know as the Monastery and Academy, preserve an important chapter in Brooklyn’s medical and social history.

In 1903, the Sisters of the Visitation made this property their home, beginning more than a century of faith, education, and service in Bay Ridge. Visitation helped raise generations of young women. Now, we are coming together to protect the place that helped shape us.

Our goal is NYC landmark designation for the entire campus, including its historic buildings, chapel, enclosure wall, lake, and grounds.

We have submitted a 430-page Request for Evaluation to the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission documenting the campus’s history and significance. Now, we need your help to build community support and move this preservation effort forward.

Until now, volunteers have funded this work out of pocket while giving their time, resources, and hearts to protecting Visitation. We have reached the limits of what we can personally contribute and need financial support to keep going.

Your donation will help pay for:

• Printing brochures, flyers, and historical information

• Signs, banners, and other publicity materials

• Postage and community mailings

• Website and communication costs

• Materials for community meetings, rallies, and outreach

As the effort progresses and funds allow, we would also like to retain legal representation experienced in landmark and historic preservation law, along with professional marketing support to expand our reach.

Visitation’s story belongs to its alumnae, the families who passed through its gates, the supporters of the Sisters, and the entire Bay Ridge community. Together, we can protect this irreplaceable part of our shared history.

Please donate what you can and share this fundraiser with friends, neighbors, and fellow alumnae.

Learn more at our website Landmark Visitation

Our Home. Our History. For All Time.