Astoria Greek Orthodox Ritual Reported As 'Dangerous Incident'

ASTORIA, QUEENS — A Greek Orthodox Easter celebration in Astoria — a neighborhood known for its historic Greek community — was reported as a dangerous incident on the Citizen app last week, prompting a conversation among locals about how the neighborhood has changed.

The incident, which was uploaded shortly after 9:30 p.m. on Friday April 30 and reached over 3,000 people, was identified on the app as a “group marching in the street” around 30-39 33rd street — around the corner from St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Cathedral, one of the community’s largest Eastern Orthodox churches.

The Citizen app advertises itself as a way to alert users if they are "near a dangerous incident."

The video, which is no longer up on Citizen, apparently showed “several dozen people walking in the street, many apparently carrying candles,” according to the app’s description.

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Dozens of neighbors in the comments of the Citizen report quickly began pointing out that this is a traditional Holy Friday ritual, called epitaphios, which re-enacts Christ’s burial march with a candle-lit procession.

“Happy Easter to everyone celebrating. If you are from this neighborhood you would know that today is Greek Good Friday,” commented one person.

“Let me guess, the person that reported this just moved to Astoria from the Midwest because he heard it was ‘trendy,’” wrote another, whose comment got over two-dozen likes, the most in the thread.

The conversation continued on Twitter, where Panayiota Bertzikis, a veteran and women’s rights activist from Astoria, Tweeted about the Citizen app incident — and others like it, where she said people targeted Orthodox Easter festivities in Astoria.

“On the stroke of midnight on Easter there is a church service where practitioners light a candle with the holy light which they bring home to bless their homes. The flame symbolizes the rebirth of Christ,” she wrote, adding that when a church was letting out early Sunday morning someone else allegedly reported a candle-lit procession to the police.

Bertzikis also cited an instance where someone on a local Facebook group complained about the smell of BBQ lamb being cooked in the neighborhood, a food traditionally eaten on Orthodox Easter, and threatened to call the police.

She pointed to both of these instances as examples of gentrification in the neighborhood.

Astoria, which is known for its large immigrant population, was once densely populated by Greek immigrants, many of whom have been priced out by the influx of affluent residents who’ve moved to Astoria and Long Island City’s during the past few years, and subsequent development in the area.

“Gentrifying a neighborhood goes way behind jacking up rents and replacing neighborhood institutions with new businesses to meet the interests of newcomers. Gentrifying also includes policing and attempting to criminalize local customs and religious traditions,” she wrote on Twitter.

She also criticized the role of police in gentrification, writing that “Church goers shouldn’t have to live in fear of someone criminalizing their religious tradition. Families that have deep roots in the community shouldn’t be shamed for the meals that they cook because the “smell” offends someone.”

“If you want to live in a neighborhood with deep cultural roots take the time to understand the culture. Make friends with the locals. Heck, you might even have been invited to join in the festivities,” Bertzikis wrote towards the end of the thread.

Several people echoed their agreement and support in the Twitter thread, calling the situation “ridiculous and terrible” and describing it as “ a sad commentary of not understanding where one chooses to live.”

When Patch reached out to the NYPD 114th Precinct, which covers Astoria, and asked if a candle-lit procession or outdoor cookout was reported in the neighborhood last weekend they said “there are no reports on file based on your inquiry.”