[3][5][6] In 1879 it was turned into the Aberle’s Theater,[7] which was later called the Grand Central, John Thompson's, the Monte Cristo, the Comedy, and, in 1884, the Germania.

St. Ann's demolished everything of the 12th Street building except the facade, and Napoleon LeBrun designed a new French Gothic sanctuary, the cornerstore for which was laid on July 10, 1870.

[2][4] At the time it was built, St. Ann's was among the wealthiest congregations in the city,[4] but the evolving demographics of the neighborhood eventually required a change, and in 1983, the building was rededicated as the St. Ann's Shrine Armenian Catholic Cathedral, an Eastern Catholic church in communion with the Church of Rome.

Protests by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation provoked NYU into promising that the concerns of the community would be taken into account in the dorm's design, but the final result was that the church was demolished, except for the facade which remains as a free-standing structure in front of the Founders Hall dormitory designed by the firm of Perkins Eastman.

[1] The AIA Guide to New York City describes the result as a futile exercise: "no connection is made, or even attempted, between the old church and the 26-story hulk ... the effect is of a majestic elk, shot and stuffed.