The proverbial alarm was sounded on Sunday, May 2nd, when during Mass at Most Precious Blood church, it was announced that there would be a meeting held on Tuesday, May 4th, to discuss the future of the church and its parish. With the recent sale of the church’s rectory in 2019 and the instant rise of condominiums in its place, the parishioners frantically spread the word to friends and relatives via phone calls, text and e-mails. Particularly in the immediate know was the president of the San Rocco society as well as other societies and confraternities that call the aging church home.

As concern rattled the Italian American community surrounding the church, social media posts overwhelmingly showed up in news feeds in a blitz of support for the Italian American community’s oldest remaining enclave church.