NEW YORK -- The South Bushwick Church in Brooklyn survived 173 years of natural disasters, neighborhood upheaval and advancing gentrification. But a swift afternoon fire on Friday largely destroyed it and toppled its landmark steeple. Over the weekend, a jumble of burned wooden beams obstructed the front of the church, and its insides were open to the sky, with only the outline of a roof remaining. The air still smelled like smoke. Most of the stained glass windows were gone.