Through to the 1960s, the Church was home to the third or fourth largest Episcopal congregation in the country, but has experienced the ups and downs true of so many parishes due to demographic changes and financial issues. In 1981, the Church sought to raise money via a real estate deal that would have built an office tower on the site of its Community House, a proposal that sparked protests from parishioners and civil preservationists. After an eleven-year legal dispute, the case went to the Supreme Court in 1991, which declined to hear the Church’s appeal of the Second Circuit decision that affirmed the landmarks law in New York State.