(NY)
Staten Island Live [Staten Island, NY]
April 22, 2026
By Kyle Lawson
Services could be numbered at a storied church on Staten Island’s North Shore, while the Archdiocese of New York fields concerns that the land could be sold to developers.
For more than a decade, the Korean Catholic Apostolate has leased the church property on Jackson Street at Beach Street in Stapleton — formerly St. John Baptist de la Salle R.C. Church.
This week, the Archdiocese of New York confirmed rumors circulating local community groups that it does not plan to renew the parish’s lease in June.
The Korean Catholic Apostolate could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.
The Archdiocese of New York issued a statement about the property’s future.
“As is happening elsewhere, so-called national parishes, at one time established to serve the needs of a particular national or ethnic community, are being discontinued and the members of those parishes are being integrated into the local parishes,” said spokesperson Joseph Zwilling.
“There are a number of reasons for this, the two most important being the desire to create vibrant, thriving communities of faith, and, with a declining number of priests, to utilize our clergy as effectively as possible to meet the needs of the people,” the statement continued.
Responding to concerns and rumors that the property could be sold to a developer, Zwilling said the property is not on the market, and that “there has been no decision made yet about the future of the (property).”
In 2013, the Korean Catholic Apostolate spent about $1 million to renovate the church, rectory and school, according to Advance/SILive.com records.
It became the first permanent location for the apostolate, which had been on the Island for 36 years but was forced to shuttle between other parishes.
“Our Korean Catholic community is overjoyed and praising God that we finally have our own church after 36 years,” said the Rev. Hyunsang Sung at the time.
The former school on the property was slated to be used as an interfaith Korean Community Center of Staten Island.
Other church properties sold
Speculation about the Stapleton church being sold is based in part on other property sales across New York City that have made headlines in recent months.
In December, the Archdiocese of New York said it had agreed to sell the land beneath the Palace Hotel on Manhattan’s East Side to the hotel owner for $490 million — part of a real estate haul meant to fund a global settlement for church sex abuse survivors, Gothamist reported.
The deal became public just days after Cardinal Timothy Dolan announced the archdiocese would establish a $300 million fund to compensate survivors of sexual abuse as it seeks to negotiate a settlement with more than 1,000 people who allege they were abused as minors by priests and other church officials.