Tim Tebow in New York by artist Janet Hamlin (Newsday)

On this Passover and Easter weekend, football enthusiasts may be celebrating another holiday–the arrival of Tim Tebow.  In her Newsday op-ed “Tim Tebow in the secular city,” Hofstra religion Professor Julie Byrne explains that prayerful Tebow might fit right into his new town.

Tebow and the Jets — how’s that going to fly?

When it became public that Denver Broncos quarterback and Christian poster boy Tim Tebow was coming to New York, that was the big question.

How will it fly for a transplant from the conservative Christian heartland to play for a team in the world center of religious pluralism? For someone who doesn’t take the Lord’s name in vain to work for famous cusser Rex Ryan? For someone who abstains from sex before marriage to hang with randy Jets teammates?

It will fly just fine.

In addition to not being the first publicly religious sports star, Tim Tebow is moving to a city that is actually more religious than many would think, as Byrne explains using Social Explorer’s Andrew Beveridge’s analysis:

While New York has a reputation for godlessness, both city and state actually have higher rates of membership in organized religion than the country as a whole. In 2000, the proportion of state residents who belonged to some religious body was 76 percent — compared with 61 percent in the United States as a whole — according to an analysis by Queens College sociologist Andrew Beveridge. Even higher numbers specifically for the tristate region put it in the top 9 percent of urban areas in terms of religiosity, ahead of Salt Lake City and Little Rock.

Explore the religion demography yourself using Social Explorer’s maps and reports of InfoGroup – American Church Lists data.