Yankee pitcher helping restore old NY church

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. -- It's another save for Mariano Rivera.

A Christian congregation that includes the star Yankees reliever is taking over a century-old church in a New York suburb and promising to restore it.

Rivera said at a news conference Tuesday that he fell in love with the North Avenue Church in New Rochelle the moment he saw it.

Rivera says his Spanish-language congregation had been looking for a permanent home.

The church, built in 1907, has been owned by the city for decades and has been vacant and falling into disrepair. Its bell tower was removed last year for safety reasons.

Mayor Noah Bramson says Rivera's church will lease the building, restore it and eventually buy it for $1. The cost of the restoration has been estimated at $3 million.

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