St. Mary & St. Antonios Church, being one of the oldest Coptic Orthodox churches in North America, started in March 1972,[5] and is the first Coptic Orthodox parish in New York[6] as well as the third Coptic parish in the US, the first two being St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church in Jersey City and St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church in Los Angeles. After a few months, however, St. George Coptic Orthodox Church was established in Brooklyn, and eventually, Coptic parishes started popping up throughout New York City as well as up-state New York. This led to the establishment of about 15 Coptic Orthodox Churches in New York State.