www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall NYC church advice

Going to be in Brooklyn (New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge) for a conference. I need church advice. I feel like I'm sending an email to a real estate agent.

o Near the hotel

o I'll certainly be going Sunday and possibly on a weekday

o Eastern parish of some sort (Ruthenian, ACROD, Melkite, anything really)

o People that won't do an ethnic check and then choose to talk to me, or if they will at least let the clergy be nice.

What, you never purchased your "fake" ethnicity card? For a small processing fee, it will guarantee you access to any ethnic Eastern and Oriental Church you choose to attend as well as any festivals that might be happening, except the "Belly Dancing" event. Don't leave home without it!

Ung

Well, actually, St. Michael's Russian-Catholic Church would
be the most easily accessible to you. Get on the R train(Manhattan bound)
at Lawrence St., nearby to your hotel (ask the staff) and
to to Prince St. Station. Walk east three short blocks to
Mulberry St. and turn left, and, bingo-bango, there you are.
Vespers at 6 on Saturday; Liturgy at 11 on Sundays. Liturgy
according to the Synodal Russian use in a mixture of English
and Slavonic. No weekday liturgies.On the Gregorian calendar.
You could even get to meet me, if you ask for "Ed".

We are not at all ethnic, unless you count a mix Neapolitan,
Irish, Scots, Welsh, German,Sicilian, Gallegian, Russian,
WASP, Ukrainian,Portugese, Polish and whatever as ethnic.

If you want to go Melkite instead, I can find out for you.
Brooklyn has the only Melkite parish in NYC. There is also
a Coptic Catholic parish somewhere in the wilds of Bensonhurst,
which is one of the more obscure parts of the Boro.

You are fortunate to be staying in Brooklyn, which is where most
of the real people in NYC live, not that you're likely to meet
any of them in that hotel or its immediate environment.

For further information and dubious humor,send me a private
message.

I hope you are not one of those extremely funny "foreigners"
who are scared of riding the NYC subways. I've been riding
them every day since I was 13 (that's 51 years ago) and never
had a problem, except for the idiots who run the system.

Edmac

I have this opinion - borne of 80's Steven Seagal movies and their ilk - that I will be set upon by people who walk around the subway wearing jean jackets and doo-rags wielding knifes and traveling in packs with similarly dressed individuals (of which one will be wearing outlandish sunglasses). Is this not true?

Thanks for the advice and I'll PM you shortly.

I think I'll have one laminated for future trips. When I get a catty response I can always whip it out and hand it to the offending Door Guardian of Ethnic Purity.

You will also get a free dish of pyrohi or spanakopita!

Ooppa!

Ung

OK. You guys have completely lost it. Time for the little yellow and blue pills!! And do 'sleepies' for a few hours. You'll feel much better.

Ethnic identity cards?

Hmmm. I see a money-maker in this one.......

Dr John
Poly-Ethnarch, Travel-Agent of the Universe, Currency-Changer, etc. ("You want fries with that.....?")

NYC isn't a lot different from anywhere else, only there
are an awful lot of people packed into a small space. This tends
to fray the nerves somewhat. In fact, it I consider native
New Yorkers, if properly approached (that is, in a manner suggesting that you are neither a psychotic nor an habitually
violent criminal),to be among the most courteous in the world.
This, of course, is most especially true of people from Brooklyn,
regardless of where they happened to be born, which might be in any country in the world. But, I wander off-topic.

Edmac... not letting me send you a PM. Feel free to email me if that's preferred: byztex at gmail dot com.

Shlomo Byzantine TX,

You could go to Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Cathedral
113 Remsen St.
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Tel. 718 624-7228
FAX: 718 624-8034

Liturgical Schedule:
Daily Liturgy at 10:00 AM
Holy Days of Obligation at 10:00 AM and 8:00 PM
Sunday at 9:00 AM, 11:00 AM

Poosh BaShlomo,
Yuhannon

Honestly, you really cannot do better than Saint Michael's on Mulberry Street - and you may tell them I said so. All ethnicities welcome; language is mostly (or entirely) English so you won't feel overwhelmed. Treat yourself; you'll enjoy it.

Christ is Risen!

Father Serge

Dear Alice,

Khristos Anesti!

The red brick building which now houses Saint Michael's was originally (in the nineteenth century) the chancery of the Diocese/Archdiocese of New York. My great-great-grandmother had occasion to go inside the place in 1877 to arrange for the burial of her husband (my great-great-grandfather, John Monaghan) in Calvary Cemetery.

When the new Saint Patrick's Cathedral was built on 50th street and 5th Avenue, the chancery was also moved uptown, and the small building on Mulberry Street was not used for very much until it was allocated for use by Saint Michael's when Father Andrew Rogosh started the parish.

Fr. Serge

Byztex: don't know why the system won't let you send me
a private message; I'll have to check my settings.I'll email you.

Edmac

Father Serge;

Thank you for your kind words.

Edmac