St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church

[Edward]

St. Nicholas Hellenic Orthodox Church (http://www.wirednewyork.com/churches/st_nicholas/default.htm) was destroyed together with the World Trade Center (http://www.wirednewyork.com/wtc/default.htm) on 11 September 2001.

The church was located across the Liberty Street from the WTC towers, between the Washington and West Streets.

The tiny church building was constructed around 1832. It originally was a residence and later housed a tavern before the founders of the parish purchased the structure. It measured 22 feet wide in front, 20 feet, 11 inches in the back, and about 56 feet long. It was 35 feet tall. On three sides it was bounded by a parking lot.

Greek immigrants established St. Nicholas Church in 1916 and purchased the structure for $25,000. It was one of two old calendar parishes under the Archdiocese until 1993 when it switched to the Gregorian calendar. Among the church's unique characteristics were its small size and its icons, which were a gift from the last czar of Russia, Nicholas II.



St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church (http://www.wirednewyork.com/churches/st_nicholas/default.htm) on 20 May 2000.

http://www.wirednewyork.com/churches/st_nicholas/images/st_nicholas_front.jpg



The cross of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church (http://www.wirednewyork.com/churches/st_nicholas/default.htm) in front of World Trade Center towers.

http://www.wirednewyork.com/churches/st_nicholas/images/st_nicholas_up.jpg

[Kris]

May 14, 2004

Solace on the Site of Disaster

By DAVID W. DUNLAP

http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2004/05/14/nyregion/nich.184.jpg
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church was crushed by the fall of the south tower on Sept. 11.

http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2004/05/14/nyregion/nich.1841.jpg
Among the items that were salvaged from St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church were, from top, a book and a bell from the altar, and a gong from the bell that was atop the church. The most precious of the old church's possessions were never recovered.

It is the smallest building planned at ground zero. But the architects who will compete to design the new St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church may face the biggest challenge.

They will be asked by Archbishop Demetrios, the primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, for a design at once unmistakably ecclesiastical yet in harmony with the bold secular architecture around it, one that captures unearthly mystery in tangible dimensions and conveys a sense of something outside human experience.

"Within this area, which experienced the horror of total catastrophe, which was the ultimate in human ugliness, you have this type of place which is not a house, not a business, not a museum, not a symphony hall," the archbishop said.

"It's a religious place, which opens the realm of holiness: this total other, the transcendent."

And all of this on a parcel of 5,200 square feet, set in a park across Liberty Street from the main World Trade Center site, roughly the spot where the little St. Nicholas Church stood until the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.

The new St. Nicholas will not be a simple parish church, Archbishop Demetrios said, but a combination church and multiuse, interdenominational center "that offers itself to people of all faiths or even without faith." It would include an exhibition of the few remnants of the old church, which was crushed by the fall of the south tower.

These include icons of St. Dionysios of Zakynthos and the Zoodochos Pege, or life-giving fountain; a small bell that once hung next to the altar; a hand-embroidered velvet Bible covering; and wax candles fused into a serpentine tangle.

St. Nicholas Church was founded in 1916 and soon moved into a modest three-story structure at 155 Cedar Street, on a 22-by-55-foot lot, that had been built as a private dwelling in the 1830's and later turned into a tavern. The church added a fourth floor and a bell cote but still fell 106 stories shy of its giant neighbors to the north.

The congregation, about 70 people from Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Westchester County and New Jersey, now worships at SS. Constantine and Helen Cathedral in Brooklyn. "It is the same faces, different building," said Peter Drakoulias, a board member of the church. "Same people. Same hearts. Same hopes."

Mr. Drakoulias said church members supported the idea of rebuilding St. Nicholas as a place of solace and remembrance in which anyone would feel comfortable. "It's an essential part of the mission, as far as the congregation is concerned," he said.

More than $2 million in contributions have been made to the rebuilding effort. In January, the mayor of Bari, Italy, site of the 11th-century San Nicola Basilica, donated 258,000 euros (about $307,000).

The lot on which St. Nicholas stood will most likely be condemned by the state; that is, taken under eminent domain. In return, the church will receive a larger parcel - 65 by 80 feet - on the same block but closer to Liberty Street.

The details are not yet set, said Kevin M. Rampe, president of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.

"The historic nature of the church and the fact that it's been there so long has convinced everyone that trying to provide space for it would be important to the future, in terms of telling the story of what happened Sept. 11," Mr. Rampe said.

Daniel Libeskind, the master planner of the trade center project, said the church was "part of the spiritual legacy of the site."

"St. Nicholas, as small as it was, was an incredibly moving piece of Lower Manhattan," he said. "It glowed with diversity and the beauty of meditation."

Archbishop Demetrios envisions an international design contest, once the specifics of the site are fixed. Widely published renderings of the trade center memorial showed St. Nicholas with a gable roof and belfry, but this was a kind of visual space holder.

The question is whether the new St. Nicholas needs traditional features to assert its ecclesiastical identity. "You don't expect a pure Byzantine-style church," the archbishop said. "On the other hand, if you depart too radically as a totally modern structure, then that is not perhaps the best way."

Negotiating this line will be difficult, allowed Nicholas P. Koutsomitis, an architect on the board of the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Manhattan who is developing the master plan for the new St. Nicholas.

"Traditionally, a Byzantine dome has been strongly identified with the Greek Orthodox church," Mr. Koutsomitis said. "The trick, in my opinion, will be to produce something that somehow has a visible element of that, yet is more of a modern architectural piece of sculpture."

One of the younger Greek Orthodox churches in Manhattan, St. Spyridon in Washington Heights, was built in the early 50's, when the glass-and-steel International style was on the rise.

Yet its interior is extravagantly, exuberantly traditional; every square inch is ornamented with Byzantine artwork under a high dome depicting Christ.

"The traditionalist in me says that the interior should follow a Byzantine motif," said Steve Hantzarides, president of the board of St. Spyridon.

But Constantine L. Tsomides, a Massachusetts architect who has followed the redevelopment of St. Nicholas, cautioned the archdiocese in 2002 that too literal a Byzantine plan "will result in a building resembling an artificial theme park."

The mixture of the historic and the contemporary at ground zero runs deeper than most New Yorkers know. The most precious of the old church's possessions - relics, or tiny bone fragments, of St. Nicholas, St. Catherine and St. Sava - were never recovered.

To Archbishop Demetrios, the notion that the saints' relics were intermingled in the dust with the remains of the attack victims only serves to sanctify the site further. "Imagine," he said, "a cemetery that somehow has been a burial place for many centuries."

http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2004/05/14/nyregion/14nich_graph.gif

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

[dtolman]

That first image in the New York Times article - juxtaposing the church with its impending doom, I find to be one of the most striking images of the whole disaster.

Its one of the few pictures that really gives a sense of scale - showing the entire huge structure as a backdrop for a building that could stand in for any building or house we interact with everyday.

[James Kovata]

Interestingly, the article did not mention the most "famous" items contained in the church (other than the relics), i.e. the icons donated by Czar Nicholas II and Czarina Alexandra of Russia.

[BPC]

As a former (infrequent) parishioner of that church, I only hope that the ultimate design will be something Herbert Muschaump will hate.

[ZippyTheChimp]

When I read the article, this (http://forums.wirednewyork.com/viewtopic.php?t=1912&highlight=jubilee+church+meie r) came to mind.

[James Kovata]

When I read the article, this (http://forums.wirednewyork.com/viewtopic.php?t=1912&highlight=jubilee+church+meie r) came to mind.

I would love to see an Orthodox church that looks like that. Unfortunately, the Orthodox church seems to be married to neo-byzantine architecture. Although byzantine architecture is beautiful and classic, it would not blend well in lower Manhattan.

[BPC]

When I read the article, this (http://forums.wirednewyork.com/viewtopic.php?t=1912&highlight=jubilee+church+meie r) came to mind.

Interesting, but there is only so much you can do with 65 by 80 feet.

[BPC]

...Unfortunately, the Orthodox church seems to be married to neo-byzantine architecture. ...

You have a point, but the Church can loosen up architecturally on occassion. This is a Frank Lloyd Wright designed GreekOrthodox Church in Milawukee:

http://www.roamersgreenpages.com/Wisconsin/Images/AnnunciationChurch.jpg

http://www.peterbeers.net/interests/flw_rt/Wisconsin/annunciation_greek_church/DSCN0690_Church_Spire_Down.JPG

Here, however, because of the tragedy of 9/11, I would prefer not to see too much of an out-there design. Something modest and conservative seems more appropriate.

[Derek2k3]

As a former (infrequent) parishioner of that church, I only hope that the ultimate design will be something Herbert Muschaump will hate.

Some unispired post-modern garbage that would appear that the building was built 80 years ago huh...something like BPC.

[James Kovata]

You have a point, but the Church can loosen up architecturally on occassion. This is a Frank Lloyd Wright designed GreekOrthodox Church in Milawukee:



I love that building.

[BPC]

As a former (infrequent) parishioner of that church, I only hope that the ultimate design will be something Herbert Muschaump will hate.

Some unispired post-modern garbage that would appear that the building was built 80 years ago huh...something like BPC.

I suppose you would prefer some Gehry-esque eyesore that will be out-of-date and out-of-fashion five years after it is built. That may be fine for an art museum, but churches should be more modest.

[TLOZ Link5]

I don't think that it's fair to assume that all of Frank Gehry's work will be obsolete in five years. People said that about art deco, and it's proven to be timeless. But I digress.

Considering the site, I for one think it would be interesting and appropriate if the facade took on the same theme as Sagrada Familia: pristine at the top, but gradually seeming to dissolve and decay as you go further down—simply a reminder that nothing, whether material or natural, is eternal.

[Kris]

Hopefully it will be something BPC and other reactionaries will hate.

That may be fine for an art museum, but churches should be more modest.
The way Baroque Rome is modest?

[LuPeRcALiO]

Considering the site, I for one think it would be interesting and appropriate if the facade took on the same theme as Sagrada Familia: pristine at the top, but gradually seeming to dissolve and decay as you go further down—simply a reminder that nothing, whether material or natural, is eternal.

but is NYC ready for La Sagrada Familia?

http://www.driveline.co.uk/images/greatgetaways/cities/sagrada-familia-at-night.jpg

answer: claro que yes!

[fioco]

pristine at the top, but gradually seeming to dissolve and decay as you go further down—simply a reminder that nothing, whether material or natural, is eternal.
TLOZlink5, you have the makings of a sensitive architect -- creative, thoughtful and curious. Too few architects think theology in their designs, and the spaces are either too austere (spiritual without the messiness of humanity) or they echo a predictable but conformist ecclesiology. I hold hopes that the new Saint Nicholas will wed religious ornamentation with a simplicity of design. La Sagrada Familia is fabulous and monumental. Can something as evocative be created in miniature? Let us pray. . .

[BPC]

Hopefully it will be something BPC and other reactionaries will hate.

That may be fine for an art museum, but churches should be more modest.
The way Baroque Rome is modest?

What I intended, and should have said was, that a church at the site of a national tragedy and memorial to 3,000 dead should be relatively modest. In other settings something Koolhaas-ian might be appropriate, but not here.

[lostnyc]

Interesting story, I have seen the church's web site once last year showing photos of the ornate interior.

I have to wonder why bother with having an architect "design" something, just recreate the facade from the existing photos as a guide.

I find it odd where this quote said:

"The most precious of the old church's possessions - relics, or tiny bone fragments, of St. Nicholas, St. Catherine and St. Sava - were never recovered.

To Archbishop Demetrios, the notion that the saints' relics were intermingled in the dust with the remains of the attack victims only serves to sanctify the site further."

I guess what he failed to realize is that ALL of the debris and the dirt, rubble etc right down to the foundation was totally removed and as I remember- hauled over to what was it? "freshkills" landfill (and man if THAT isnt an ironic name for where the debris wound up...) to be sorted and looked over, so whatever relics and Saint bone fragments was there is now in NJ sanctifying the landfill there not the site where the church was.

[James Kovata]

Perhaps I am being too sensitive, but I cannot understand why anyone would hope that a church would be built in a style hated by someone who is a member of the religion to which the church belongs.

[Derek2k3]

As a former (infrequent) parishioner of that church, I only hope that the ultimate design will be something Herbert Muschaump will hate.

Some unispired post-modern garbage that would appear that the building was built 80 years ago huh...something like BPC.

I suppose you would prefer some Gehry-esque eyesore that will be out-of-date and out-of-fashion five years after it is built. That may be fine for an art museum, but churches should be more modest.

Actually I would prefer it but it's not necessary. The church can be modern and modest at the same time. It just seemed like you were implying that they should build a little church with a traditional bell tower, fake ornaments, etc., to act as if the church has been there way before 9/11.

I have to wonder why bother with having an architect "design" something, just recreate the facade from the existing photos as a guide.
Why stop there, screw the current plans and recreate the new wtc from existing photos as a guide. How nonsensical right? I don't understand why being a church makes it justifiable to build some copy of outdated architecture. Are churches not supposed to adapt and progress to modern times?

[lostnyc]

It just seemed like you were implying that they should build a little church with a traditional bell tower, fake ornaments, etc., to act as if the church has been there way before 9/11.



Fake ornaments? the facade actually was very plain except maybe the shape of the upper parts of the windows I think were pointed and the very top where the bell was reminded me of old Spanish missions. Beyond thatthe facade was devoid of gaudyness.


Why stop there, screw the current plans and recreate the new wtc from existing photos as a guide. How nonsensical right?



I've wondered that myself, WHY create an entirely whole new everything from scratch when all the original plans for the two towers could have been modified and maybe built them 50 floors or so high, or even the original 110- whatever, there was nothing wrong with the floor space layout.
They could have put the two towers back in pretty much as they were with modifications/updates etc as needed and it would have gone a long way towards visually putting back what is missing there instead of making the entire site a constant daily reminder.


I don't understand why being a church makes it justifiable to build some copy of outdated architecture.

"Outdated" by whose definitions though?

that really has become a nonsensical catch term and seems to be used more and more by big corporations brainwashing people into the mindset that they have to replace their "outdated" 2 year old $15,000 cars, their "outdated" hair styles every month, "outdated" clothing styles from gasp!!! LAST year!!! and so on. If you stop and think about that you can see how brainwashed the American public has become into replacing almost everything on an almost annual basis (if it doesnt fall apart first) and certainly by 5 years- from major appliances to houses and everything in between.

That's why the landfills are so damned stuffed full of the updated but now outdated in a year junk people keep throwing out!

The DesMoines paper ran an article a couple of weeks ago on that with a photo of what people threw out on the annual big item garbage days- perfectly good furniture, sofas, beds, cribs, you name it.
People don't bother keeping or repairing anything any more they just toss it and buy new in an endless cycle, and then wonder why their credit cards are $30,000 in the hole.

[ZippyTheChimp]

If people always felt that way, there would be no gothic cathedrals, no art deco - well, you get the idea.

Shouldn't we have an architectural legacy to pass to the 22nd century?

[fioco]

If, at its noblest, architecture is able to elevate the mundane and necessary into that which lifts the human spirit as it serves the public need, then art that is beyond the predictable and expedient should guide the design of St. Nicholas.

Ecclesiastical architecture once played a critical role both in how a city projected its importance (temporal power) and its inherent values (spirituality and the social contract). Temples, churches and mosques were gathering places, often surrounded by markets and commerce, and serving as sentinels to remind the community of a power greater than civic authority or tremendous wealth. Such monolithic metaphors no longer speak so convincingly in a diverse, pluralistic society of many creeds, but the need remains for a community to be inspired, to reach for its ideals, and to see life (temporal and eternal) beyond greedy self-interest or cynical hard-heartedness.

Even if the new design of St. Nicholas church echoes the shape and simplicity of the former building, the faith community has been forever changed by 9-11 and its aftermath. The architecture must somehow embody not only the evolving physical requirements of the community but also its spiritual aspirations. Because of its location, the new church will be a provocative witness to endurance and a sentinel for hope. If the architect has chosen suitable and effective metaphors, then believers and non-believers alike would be able to find solace in its design.

So far, every structure considered for the WTC site has elicited much debate and discussion. It will be no different for this small church. The challenge will be to effect great art in miniature form. Perhaps it will be a modernist Faberge egg to bask in the elegance of Calatrava's transit center, or instead, a Koolhaus orgami. And if perchance the Freedom Tower is inelegant, may the views from it be elevated and inspired by the great architecture that surrounds it.

[SunsetWorks]

The bone fragments may be among the thousands of unidentified human remains stored in the refrigerated trailers at the NYC Medical Examiners Office. Due to their age the DNA is probably degraded and would be hard to identify, even if other samples from those long-dead saints could be located elsewhere and DNA profiled.

There would have been no way the recovery teams at the site or Fresh Kills could have separately identified the saints' bone relics from victim bone fragments, if the container holding the relics was destroyed, which was very likely.

I find it odd where this quote said:

"The most precious of the old church's possessions - relics, or tiny bone fragments, of St. Nicholas, St. Catherine and St. Sava - were never recovered.

To Archbishop Demetrios, the notion that the saints' relics were intermingled in the dust with the remains of the attack victims only serves to sanctify the site further."

I guess what he failed to realize is that ALL of the debris and the dirt, rubble etc right down to the foundation was totally removed and as I remember- hauled over to what was it? "freshkills" landfill (and man if THAT isnt an ironic name for where the debris wound up...) to be sorted and looked over, so whatever relics and Saint bone fragments was there is now in NJ sanctifying the landfill there not the site where the church was.

[BPC]

April 22, 2006

On Greek Orthodox Easter, a Displaced Parish Contemplates Its Future

By DAVID W. DUNLAP

At midnight tonight, the parishioners of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Lower Manhattan will celebrate Easter where they have worshiped for five years.

In Brooklyn. At SS. Constantine and Helen Cathedral.

With all the talk of unkept promises at ground zero, it is sometimes easy to overlook St. Nicholas Church, structurally the smallest victim of 9/11, crushed by the collapse of the south tower.

But its own journey through the redevelopment wilderness has been no less protracted than better known projects. And it is not over yet.

The new site for the church is being dictated in large measure by something entirely unrelated to liturgical or parochial needs: the layout of an underground screening center that would serve as the security conduit for all vehicles entering the ramps, roadways, loading docks and parking areas serving the new trade center buildings.

The church must be undergirded by a hardened slab to protect it from an explosion in the ramps below, just as the ramps must be protected from an explosion set off in the church above.

"We cannot really proceed, even with planning, I mean architectural planning, because we have to know what's going on," said Archbishop Demetrios, primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America. "How strong would be this undergirding? And therefore what type of building do you have on top? How high? What's the material? The weight? There are a number of factors here.

"We would like to conclude the issue as soon as possible."

There is no way to say exactly when the end will come, though it appears to be on the horizon.

"What we're attempting to do is balance the church's spiritual needs with design, construction and safety issues," said Steven Plate, the director of priority capital programs at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which will build the screening center at a cost of $478 million.

An irregular, 4,500-square-foot site on Liberty Street, facing the World Trade Center memorial, has tentatively been assigned to St. Nicholas, though the exact dimensions are not yet set. It would have a forecourt, which Archbishop Demetrios imagines as a possible permanent home for the steel-beam cross salvaged from 6 World Trade Center.

The new St. Nicholas will have a sanctuary and a separate contemplation hall where people of any faith — or none — can come for a spiritual retreat from ground zero.

Wrapped around the new church and forecourt, following the curving geometry of the ramps below, would be an elevated park and overlook.

The site is almost four times larger than the church's original lot at 155 Cedar Street, which it still owns but will exchange for the new site. Planners for the archdiocese want the new building close to Greenwich Street, rather than behind or on top of the hill that will be formed by the entryway to the ramps.

"The church has to be accessible," said Nicholas P. Koutsomitis, an architect who is preparing the master plan for St. Nicholas. "It can't be perched on top of a hill."

Stefan Pryor, the president of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, said the church would be placed "as close to its desired location on the east as possible," pending approval by the Port Authority and the multi-agency Lower Manhattan Counter-Terrorism Advisory Team, which includes the New York Police Department.

The government's interest in accommodating the church, he said, is based not only on the historical presence of St. Nicholas in the neighborhood — once a vital Greek and Syrian quarter — but in its greater symbolic role.

"This is the site of an attack that was based on religious extremism," Mr. Pryor said. "By creating an interdenominational center that welcomes people of all faiths we think that the church is making a marvelous statement."

St. Nicholas was founded in 1916. Before moving to Cedar Street, its parishioners worshiped in the dining room of a hotel on Morris Street run by Stamatis Kalamarides.

His grandson, John E. Pitsikalis, is now president of the parish council. Growing up in the Midwood section of Brooklyn, Mr. Pitsikalis remembers traveling with his family into Manhattan for the midnight service at St. Nicholas on Easter Sundays.

"There's a lot of loyalty to your first church," he said.

Since the destruction of St. Nicholas, its members have scattered to churches in New York and New Jersey. The largest group wound up at SS. Constantine and Helen in downtown Brooklyn, where their priest, the Rev. John Romas was assigned.

"The community of St. Constantine has really embraced us," Mr. Pitsikalis said. "It was like we were refugees."

Grateful as they are, however, the people of St. Nicholas long to return home.

"I was walking on the street and ran into a parishioner in her 70's," Mr. Pitsikalis said. "She's scared that she might die and not be buried from St. Nicholas."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/22/nyregion/22nicholas.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print

[LeCom]

You have a point, but the Church can loosen up architecturally on occassion. This is a Frank Lloyd Wright designed GreekOrthodox Church in Milawukee:

http://www.roamersgreenpages.com/Wisconsin/Images/AnnunciationChurch.jpg

http://www.peterbeers.net/interests/flw_rt/Wisconsin/annunciation_greek_church/DSCN0690_Church_Spire_Down.JPG

Here, however, because of the tragedy of 9/11, I would prefer not to see too much of an out-there design. Something modest and conservative seems more appropriate.
I am Eastern Orthodox Christian, and I consider myself open to abstract and objective thought concerning religion, and I also like many futuristic structures. However, I don't know just how comfortable I would be attending this building as a church.

[Gotham]

Here's the recently built Greek Orthodox Church of the Assumtion in Port Jefferson, Long Island.... 2005 I think. I'm Roman Catholic, but the rebuilt St. Nick's will be something special for everyone.... I hope.
http://www.kimisis.org/Gallery/Church%20Album/images/Scan03-02-22-051_jpg.jpg (http://www.kimisis.org/Gallery/Church%20Album/images/Scan03-02-22-051_jpg.jpg)

[LeCom]

That looks like an Armenian branch of the church.

[Gotham]

Nope.... Greek. Nice Architecture either way.
2154

[LeCom]

Nope.... Greek. Nice Architecture either way.
2154
Alright, thanks for the clearup. They/we are the same branch anyway, basically. To all who don't know, here's how it happened: Emperor Constantine broke the Roman Empire into two, the West with the capital at Rome and the East Empire with the capital at Byzantium, current Istanbul. Rome gave rise to the Vatican, Catolicism and Protestant branch-offs, while Byzantium gave rise to Eastern christian churches, such as Greek, Armenian, Russian and others.

[Gotham]

Istanbul = formally Constantinople..... always admired the Orthadox Christian Church's architecture.

[James Kovata]

I am Eastern Orthodox Christian, and I consider myself open to abstract and objective thought concerning religion, and I also like many futuristic structures. However, I don't know just how comfortable I would be attending this building as a church.


I've always loved that Milwaukee church. The rotunda style was one of the earliest styles used in church architecture (after the classic three aisle basilica). By the way LeCom, I'm also Eastern Orthodox.

[ablarc]

I would love to see an Orthodox church that looks like that. Unfortunately, the Orthodox church seems to be married to neo-byzantine architecture. Although byzantine architecture is beautiful and classic, it would not blend well in lower Manhattan.
No need for a church to blend. A church should stand out. Old St. Nicholas contrasted very nicely with the World Trade Center.

[BigMac]

AM New York
December 6, 2006

Church at ground zero marks 90th year

Associated Press

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church was set to mark its 90th year Wednesday with its structure gone but its spirit intact.

The landmark church in Manhattan's financial district was destroyed in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The congregation and city authorities are still cementing a plan to rebuild.

Members plan to mark the anniversary -- and the day devoted to the church's namesake saint -- by creating a "temporary church" at one of ground zero's gates.

Given the church's history, it also will be an occasion to remember the terrorist attacks. Some victims' relatives were expected at the service, and visitors were invited to view artifacts recovered from ground zero.

Built in 1916, the tiny church stood at the southern edge of what is now ground zero. It was traditionally a refuge for Greek sailors who believed that St. Nicholas, the patron saint of sailors, would keep their ships from sinking.

St. Nicholas -- commonly known as Santa Claus -- was born in the third century to a wealthy family in Patara, a village in what is now Turkey. He became a bishop and lavished his inheritance on the needy, especially children.

The church has served generations of Greek-American families and some of the world's rich and famous, including shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis and actor Telly Savalas.

The Orthodox community worldwide has pledged millions of dollars to rebuild the church, which New York Gov. George Pataki promised would rise on or close to the same spot.

The congregation's 80 families have worshipped elsewhere while awaiting the rebuilding.

Copyright 2006 AM New York

[Jboulin94]

I was upset to hear that the church was crushed because im Greek. It never stood a chance when the towers fell.

[BPC]

AP Top News`Tent' Church at Ground Zero
By VERENA DOBNIK

Associated Press Writer

December 7, 2006, 10:50 AM EST

NEW YORK -- A church rose up for a day inside a white tent at ground zero.

Hundreds of faithful from the tiny St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, which was destroyed along with the World Trade Center, gathered in a makeshift canvas sanctuary on Wednesday, where they marked St. Nicholas Day and the 90th anniversary of their parish.

"We have constructed a church for a day," said Peter Drakoulias, a church board member, before the afternoon service that drew worshippers from Boston, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

As part of the ceremony, Archbishop Demetrios, the head of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, read the names of some Greek-Americans who died in the 2001 terror attacks.

Among them was John K. Katsimatides, an employee of the Cantor Fitzgerald bond brokerage.

"Once a week, my brother used to stop by this church, light a candle and pray," said his sister, Anthoula Katsimatides.

The Sept. 11 attack decimated the landmark church that was once a refuge for everyone from Wall Street traders on their lunch break to Greek sailors who believed St. Nicholas, their patron saint, would keep their ships from sinking.

The church, with barely enough seating for 100 people, also drew some of the world's rich and famous, including shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis and "Kojak" actor Telly Savalas.

Parishioners have raised more than $4 million to rebuild the house of worship at or near its original site, an area just south of the one-time trade center location.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the 16 acres of the World Trade Center site, has yet to approve a final plan for rebuilding St. Nicholas.

"We're just a little church, a small piece of the reconstruction, and we're being patient," said Drakoulias.

* __

On the Net:

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church: http://www.stnicholasnyc.com

[lofter1]

Not new news, but on-topic for this thread:

Port Authority, St. Nicholas Church Reach Ground Zero Deal

NY OBSERVER
by Eliot Brown
July 28, 2008

http://www.observer.com/files/imagecache/article/files/stnicholas_0.jpg
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
St. Nicholas Church before September 11.

As expected (http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.observer.com%2F2008%2Freal-estate%2Fdeal-near-ground-zero-church-and-port-authority&ei=Z-WNSMOQAZGo8ASasKCDBQ&usg=AFQjCNE5zOLOjcO0QmaWEdVGrYGA_BjcCQ&sig2=QPN7ZWIKu-xAee4egSWfIA), the Port Authority last week approved the land deal with St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church to allow the Port to use the church's Ground Zero land and build a vehicle security center below.

The bi-state agency agreed to give the church $20 million ($10 million is supposed to come from JPMorgan Chase for its planned adjacent building, though we'll see if that tower ever happens), along with up to $40 million for infrastructure. The church will get a significantly larger lot than it had prior to September 11, 2001, at 8,100 square feet.

Release below.

PORT AUTHORITY AND St. NICHOLAS CHURCH REACH AGREEMENT

ON REBUILDING CHURCH AT WORLD TRADE CENTER SITE

Agreement Allows WTC Vehicle Security Center to Move Forward

The Port Authority and St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church have reached an agreement that will allow the 92-year-old church to be rebuilt near its former location at the World Trade Center site. The agreement also resolves a key issue - one of the 15 fundamental issues identified in last month's Port Authority World Trade Center Assessment -- that will allow construction to proceed on the Vehicle Security Center - a vital artery that will serve nearly every facility on the site and is a key driver of schedules and costs of the other projects.

At its monthly meeting today, the bistate agency's Board of Commissioners authorized an agreement between the Port Authority, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, the City of New York and St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church that will move the site of the Greek Church to allow for access and construction needed for the construction of the Vehicle Security Center.

Under the agreement, St. Nicholas Church agreed to convey property at 155 Cedar Street - where the church was located before it was destroyed on 9/11 - to the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. LMDC, in turn, will transfer the parcel at 130 Liberty Street to the church for its new building. LMDC will then transfer property at 155 Cedar Street, 140 Liberty Street and a portion of 130 Liberty Street to the Port Authority for construction of the South Bathtub, which will house the Vehicle Security Center.

St. Nicholas will receive up to $20 million in direct costs for the rebuilt church, including $10 million from the Port Authority to mitigate the impact on the cost of building the church over the Vehicle Security Center, and $10 million from a third party as part of a future development agreement for the Tower 5 site. The Port Authority will provide an additional $20 million, up to a maximum of $40 million, to build the infrastructure needed to support the church on top of the Vehicle Security Center.

As a result of this agreement, the Board approved an $88.6 million contract with the joint venture of E.E. Cruz & Co. and Nicholson, LLC for construction of the walls of the South Bathtub south of the existing World Trade Center site, which will be used ultimately to house the vehicle screening facility and parking for approximately 28 tour buses. The new South Bathtub will be bounded by Liberty, Greenwich, Cedar and West streets.

Port Authority Chairman Anthony R. Coscia said, "This agreement with the Greek Church brings to a successful close months of negotiations on an issue that, left unresolved, would have affected the successful construction progress we've made in the past two years and the future work we need to do at the World Trade Center site. It represents the Port Authority's firm resolve to do what is necessary to advance the rebuilding process as quickly as possible."

Port Authority Executive Director Chris Ward said, "Resolving this lynchpin issue in a matter of weeks is a concrete example of the new way of doing business at the World Trade Center site. Much more remains to be done, but this agreement represents an important step forward."

The St. Nicholas Church land rights claim was one of 15 key issues outlined in the World Trade Center Assessment report, which was commissioned by New York Governor David A. Paterson and released publicly on June 30.

http://www.observer.com/2008/real-estate/church-deal (http://www.observer.com/2008/real-estate/church-deal)

© 2008 Observer Media Group,

[NYatKNIGHT]

The site has been cleared and they have begun to mobilize.

Step One: begin construction of the new south slurry wall.

Step Two: construct a new Liberty St. pedestrian bridge extension where the stairs come down on the west side of 90 West. St. so they can dismantle the walkway that cuts through the site.

[Daquan13]

It's amazing how THAT footbridge din't get destroyed on 09-11, but the other one did!

[brianac]

Faith and Frustration at Ground Zero

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/12/07/nyregion/07GREEK.XLARGE1.jpg Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times
Archbishop Demetrios celebrating the Feast of St. Nicholas, the patron of the Greek Orthodox church in Lower Manhattan.

By RAY RIVERA (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/ray_rivera/index.html?inline=nyt-per)
Published: December 6, 2008

In the Greek Orthodox tradition, St. Nicholas is the protector of merchants and sailors, children and travelers. But for the last seven years, members of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Lower Manhattan have also looked to their parish’s namesake for something else: patience.

The members have been without a church since Sept. 11, 2001, when it was crushed in the collapse of the south tower of the World Trade Center.

Efforts to rebuild have been delayed by the same byzantine negotiations and bureaucratic complexities that have plagued the entire $16 billion reconstruction of the trade center site.

Many of the 100 families who make up the congregation have been worshiping at a parish in Brooklyn, except once a year when they return to the site of their old church — or as close to the site as they can get — to celebrate the day on the liturgical calendar that honors St. Nicholas.

This year, that day fell on Saturday. And once again the members gathered inside a heated white tent at the southern edge of the ground zero construction zone.

“We have a lot of patience here,” said Olga Pavlakos, a lawyer and fourth-generation member of the parish. “We’re a church, we’re not a business, and we have faith that our church will be rebuilt.”

After the 9/11 attacks, Archbishop Demetrios, the primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, vowed that the church would be rebuilt “on the same sacred spot, as a symbol of determined fate.”

“We were full of hope of a very quick rebuilding, so there is an amount of frustration,” the archbishop said on Saturday, addressing the congregation before leading a memorial service for Greek Orthodox families who had lost loved ones in the attacks. But, he added, “We seem to be very close now to the end of our waiting.”

That hint of hope stems from an announcement made in July by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/p/port_authority_of_new_york_and_new_jersey/index.html?inline=nyt-org), the owner of the trade center site, which said it had reached a tentative agreement with the church that would help it begin to rebuild.

The deal calls for the authority to give the church $20 million to build at the northwest corner of Greenwich and Liberty Streets a larger church and a nondenominational hall for visitors to ground zero.

But nearly six months later, the agreement has yet to be finalized.

“Nothing has been signed,” said Peter Drakoulias, an executive board member of the church.

Part of the delay stems from the complicated, interwoven nature of the deal. The new church is to be built atop an underground security screening center for vehicles entering the trade center. The Port Authority has promised to pay up to $40 million to build a blast-proof platform and foundation upon which the church will be built and that must be completed before the church can begin its own construction.

Demolition of the problem-plagued Deutsche Bank building (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/d/deutsche_bank_building_130_liberty_street_nyc/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier) also has to be completed before work on the screening center begins. That was delayed when a fire broke out in the building in the summer of 2007, killing two firefighters.

Mr. Drakoulias said negotiations with the Port Authority had been congenial, but had taken longer than anyone expected. Chris Ward, the Port Authority’s executive director, agreed.

“I would say we’re down to the final strokes of the transaction,” said Mr. Ward, who attended Saturday’s service. “There are no sticking points, there are no disagreements, it’s just taking a little longer to finalize the documents. This is something the Port Authority and the church have never done before, and I think we all just want to do it right.”

Even when the deal is finalized, parish members know it could be several more years before they once again step into a church they can call their own. The church will also have to raise several more million dollars to pay for the estimated $30 million cost of construction.

But for many, the tentative deal was an important step in ensuring that the new church will be in nearly the same spot as the original.

“To keep the historical connection between the old church and the new church is very, very important,” said Stamatios P. Lykos, a board member and chairman of the church’s architecture committee. “The new church will be a beacon of our faith.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/07/nyregion/07greek.html?ref=nyregion

Copyright 2008 (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/copyright.html) The New York Times Company (http://www.nytco.com/)

[Alonzo-ny]

They should have gotten that article out sooner, the deal is signed now Im sure we heard recently.

[brianac]

THe article was printed because of the meeting yesterday.

How quick do you want it.

“Nothing has been signed,” said Peter Drakoulias, an executive board member of the church.

I don't know if he made this statement yesterday or not.

[infoshare]

Restoring Byzantium. (http://www.learn.columbia.edu/ha/related_sites/byzantium/index.html)

EXCERPT - http://www.learn.columbia.edu/ha/related_sites/byzantium/index.html

The discussion of the Late Byzantine monastic church of the Kariye Camii focuses on the period of rebuilding and expansion during the years from ca. 1316 to 1321. Theodore Metochites, minister and subsequently prime minister of the Byzantine Empire, during a short period of cultural revival, undertook the rebuilding and renovation of the Kariye Camii The greatest intellectual of his age, and thus knowledgeable and involved, he was wealthy and powerful and therefore in a position to assume the patronage of this church.

Metochites early fourteenth-century rebuilding included the reconstruction of the naos dome; the pastophoria; the addition of a two-storied annex to the north, an inner and outer narthex to the west; and the parekklesion to the south. The appearance of incongruity in the structure resulted from several factors including the use of the Middle Byzantine core of the building, the sloping site, as well as the varying functions of the ancillary chambers.

The monastery was dedicated to the Virgin, as Theodore Metochites indicated in a long poem he wrote to the Virgin: "To thee I have dedicated this noble monastery, which is called by thy precious name of Chora." The naos of the church, however, was dedicated to Christ, as is suggested by the mosaic of Metochites presenting the church to Christ.

Located at the edge of Constantinople near the Land Wall of Emperor Theodosius, the Kariye Camii gained in importance due to its proximity to the main imperial residence at the Blachernae Palace (mostly ruined).

In addition to its architectural significance, the Kariye Camii also preserves one of the finest and most extensive cycles of Later Byzantine mosaic and fresco decoration recounting the lives of the Virgin Mary and Christ.

[Alonzo-ny]

I was mistaken, the article I thought was new in post 37 was actually from July. If the article had been new then yeah I would have wanted it released before that announcement.

[antinimby]

It just dawned on me while looking over the stale KPF rendering for 5WTC, that the new design of the church was there all along.

We just never noticed it before but there it is all right...gold dome and all (below 5WTC's "belly") :

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3110/3184339332_076cc9a410_o.jpg

[NoyokA]

I think thats a placeholder, the church hasn't been designed yet.

[infoshare]

(below 5WTC's "belly") :



Great photo: thanks. Given 'the (modern) belly' next door. If that building - or something similarly modern is going to be right on top of the Church - a 'contemporary' architectural style would be far more contextual (http://www.northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/89/entry). I have been looking for some more graphics/news on the the Church design; being that the 'Architectural Design' has not been finalized there is a least the possibility of seeing a 'modern greek orthodox (http://www.stdionysios.org/ourchurch.html)' church built on that site.

[brianac]

Church Destroyed at Ground Zero Is Still at Square One

By CHARLES V. BAGLI (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/b/charles_v_bagli/index.html?inline=nyt-per)
Published: March 18, 2009

The tiny St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church is once again at the forefront of the myriad disputes that plague the rebuilding effort at ground zero.

The fate of the church (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/03/nyregion/03trade.html?scp=8&sq=St.%20Nicholas%20Greek%20Orthodox%20Church&st=cse), a narrow whitewashed building that was crushed in the attack on the World Trade Center, was supposed to have been settled eight months ago, with a tentative agreement in which the church would swap its land for a grander church building on a larger parcel nearby, with a $20 million subsidy from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/p/port_authority_of_new_york_and_new_jersey/index.html?inline=nyt-org). This would have allowed work to begin at the south end of the site.

But the two sides never came to final terms. After months of negotiations, the Port Authority, which is overseeing reconstruction at ground zero, ended its talks with the church on Monday, saying that the church had sought increasingly costly concessions.

Complaints, of course, abound on both sides.

The authority now says that St. Nicholas is free to rebuild the church on its own parcel at 155 Cedar Street, just east of West Street. The authority will, in turn, use eminent domain to get control of the land beneath that parcel so it can move ahead with building foundation walls and a bomb-screening center for trucks, buses and cars entering the area.

“We made an extraordinarily generous offer to resolve this issue and spent eight months trying to finalize that offer, and the church wanted even more on top of that,” said Stephen Sigmund, a spokesman for the Port Authority. “They have now given us no choice but to move on to ensure the site is not delayed. The church continues to have the right to rebuild at their original site, and we will pay fair market value for the underground space beneath that building.”

Last July, the Port Authority and the Greek Orthodox Church announced a tentative plan to rebuild the church just east of its original site, at Liberty and Greenwich Streets. The authority agreed to provide the church with land for a 24,000-square-foot house of worship, far larger than the original, and $20 million. Since the church would be built in a park over the bomb-screening center, the authority also agreed to pay up to $40 million for a blast-proof platform and foundation.

In recent negotiations, the authority cut the size of the church slightly and told church officials that its dome could not rise higher than the trade center memorial. The church, in turn, wanted the right to review plans for both the garage with the bomb-screening center and the park, something the authority was unwilling to provide. More important, authority officials said, the church wanted the $20 million up front, rather than in stages. Officials said they feared that the church, which has raised about $2 million for its new building, would come back to the authority for more.

The termination of negotiations is a major setback for the little church, a parish of 70 families that is nearly 90 years old. St. Nicholas officials had hoped to build an impressive structure, with a traditional Greek Orthodox dome, and a nondenominational center for visitors to ground zero. That will not be possible on the church’s original 1,200-square-foot lot, although church officials say they hope for reconciliation.

“We consider the rebuilding of the St. Nicholas Church a sacred obligation to the victims of 9/11, to the city of New York, to the people of America and in fact to the international community,” said Stavros H. Papagermanos, a spokesman for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. “We will continue to discuss in good faith and we believe that all parties involved are well-intended, and ultimately we will overcome any obstacles that have arisen.”

One person who was involved in the negotiations on behalf of the church, and who insisted on anonymity so as not to inflame the situation, criticized the Port Authority, saying it had made constantly shifting demands on St. Nicholas. Still, he said, the remaining issues were relatively small.

But it does not appear that the Port Authority is posturing. And while the Bloomberg administration expressed regrets about the impasse, officials said it was far more important to proceed apace with building a memorial, a transit center and other projects at ground zero.

St. Nicholas, a four-story church, became a symbol of resilience after it was destroyed, with George E. Pataki (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/george_e_pataki/index.html?inline=nyt-per), then the governor, and Archbishop Demetrios, primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, vowing that it would rise again.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/19/nyregion/19church.html?ref=nyregion

Copyright 2009 (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/copyright.html) The New York Times Company (http://www.nytco.com/)

[ZippyTheChimp]

Look for a quick resolution.