Deal Struck To Rebuild St. Nicholas Greek Church Near WTC Site
NEW YORK (AP) - It took a decade, but a deal has finally been struck to rebuild a New York City church destroyed on 9/11.
WCBS 880's Rich Lamb On The Story
Podcast
The new St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church will be about three times as large as the old one.
It's just a short walk down Liberty Street from the ruined chapel it had occupied for 85 years.
The resolution of the dispute was announced Friday by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
The church will rebuild on Port Authority land. The agency also owns the nearby World Trade Center site.
The settlement was mediated by the office of Gov. Andrew Cuomo. It will end a lawsuit filed earlier this year.
Under the deal, the Port Authority will pay for site-work and below-ground infrastructure. The cost of that work is estimated to be about $25 million, according to the governor's office. The archdiocese will pay for the construction of the chapel.
The leader of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, Archbishop Demetrios, said the church's continued presence at the trade center site will be "an affirmation of the significance of religious freedom and experience for all New Yorkers and all Americans.''
"We will again light many candles in the new St. Nicholas Church and remember those who were lost to us, and those heroes who so nobly sacrificed their lives,'' he said.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
