In October 2023, the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) added bike lanes on both sides of Oceania Street and removed parking on one side of Oceania Street, contrary to the recommendation of the Armenian Church of the Holy Martyrs and residents in the community.

We believe the New York City DOT needs to immediately modify the Bike Lanes on Oceania Street as they have significant negative impacts to our parish community including, but not limited to:

• Prohibits Worship on Sunday Mornings
• Severely impacts our Sacraments
• Creates an unsafe arrival and departure of school children in our Day School, Armenian School, and Sunday School.

For these reasons, we respectfully request that the DOT promptly reconsider the unnecessary bike lanes on Oceania Street.

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Parishioners travel weekly to Holy Martyrs Armenian Church from all five boroughs of New York City – Manhattan, Bronx, Queens, Staten Island and Brooklyn – and Long Island and New Jersey for Sunday Church Service, Prayers for the Deceased (Hokehankisd), and Fellowship. The new bike lanes have created substantial hardship for our parishioners as there is limited parking within reasonable proximity to our Church.

A significant number of our parishioners are elderly and/or physically handicapped, which requires them to be able to park near the Church.

Parishioners travel from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and beyond to attend the Holy Sacraments - Baptisms, Weddings, and Funerals. Not only is it difficult to park, but also unsafe for the Bride & Groom, Families with Infants, and Hearses to reasonably arrive and depart from the front of the Church.

We have a thriving pre-kindergarten to sixth grade school, which is the only Armenian Day school in New York State. In addition, we have a Saturday Armenian language school and Sunday School. The students’ parents express how difficult it is to park and safely drop their children off at our church schools.

Parishioners cannot find parking or are not physically able to park four blocks away and walk uphill. They arrive upset, winded, and angry, entirely due to the unnecessary bike lanes on both sides of Oceania Street.