The parish was opened about 1923 by the Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo, a religious congregation founded in 1887 by the Blessed John Baptist Scalabrini, a Catholic bishop in Italy who had become aware of the plight of his fellow countrymen who were emigrating to America to escape poverty.

St. Joseph Parochial School opened in 1926, administered by the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a congregation of teaching sisters from Italy.

[3] "Visible over the tenement scape of the Lower East Side are the twin domed towers of this Roman Catholic Sanctuary--San Giuseppe--at 5 Monroe Street, designed by Matthew W. Del Gaudio".

[1] The Church and School of St. Joseph continued to serve the people of the inner city and immigrants, with Masses celebrated in three different languages: English, Spanish and Chinese.

James was merged again with the Church of the Transfiguration in 2015, sparking objections from some members of its active, predominantly Chinese-American congregation.