Tag Archives: ground zero church

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church at World Trade Center

Ground Zero Church Loses Ground To Mosque Attention

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church at World Trade Center
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church destroyed on 9/11

With all the political and media attention turned to what has been dubbed the “Ground Zero Mosque,” The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America has accused officials on ignoring the reconstruction efforts of the church decimated during the September 11 attacks.

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church was a small building located within a parking lot area at the World Trade Center site. During the collapse of the Twin Towers, debris fell directly on the church destroying the entire structure. The congregation has been working with community groups to rebuild the demolished church.

The Port Authority and archdiocese have been in active negotiations until last year, and talks have not continued since.

“We have people that are saying, why isn’t our church being rebuilt and why is there.. such a concern for people of the mosque” according to Father Alex Karloutsos, to FoxNews.com. “Unfortunately, [the Port Authority] have just been silent — dead silent actually. They simply forgot about the church.”

According to the same article, “The archdiocese and Port Authority offer sharply conflicting accounts of where things went wrong. The Port Authority has previously claimed the church was making additional demands — like wanting the $20 million up front and wanting to review plans for the surrounding area. They say the church can still proceed on its own if it wishes.”

The church still reserves the rite to rebuild the church upon the property where the original church has stood. Representatives of the church have claimed the Port Authority has not sought to meet with church officials and has backpeddled on rebuilding the church.

As the church has not attracted the national media attention that Park51 has — it may be an upward battle to see the rebuilding of St. Nicholas back at the World Trade Center site.