In the Shadow of the Twin Towers

In 1916, five families of Greek immigrants gathered the astronomical at that time amount of $25,000 and bought an old tavern, built in 1832, and converted it into a church. Being only 22 feet wide, 56 feet long and 35 feet tall, the church of St. Nicholas stood for decades as a symbol of Christianity in the center of busy Manhattan, in New York City.

For years, St. Nicholas became the refuge for Greek immigrants and stranded sailors but also for Wall Street brokers seeking a place of worship during the daily rush hour of the metropolis.

St. Nicholas was decorated internally with icons donated by its congregation and by Tsar Nicholas II, last king of Russia who also donated relics of saints. Over the years and during times of trouble, the little church became a beacon of communication between humans and God.

When the World Trade Center was built, the little church was dwarfed by the twin giants of glass and steel, remaining in place despite the various offers of the WTC managers to acquire the lot and create extra parking spots.

In the morning of September 11, 2001, St. Nicholas was completely destroyed, crushed under the weight of thousands of tons of shattered glass and melted steel. The church keeper, Vasilios Torazanos who was working inside the church when the first plane hit the World Trade Center, left his car behind and walked on foot towards Brooklyn. Reverend of the church, John Romas, watched in shock the following day the remains of the church, completely flattened. It was a sight, he said, that would make your heart sink.

After the Ground Zero area was cleaned and zoned for reconstruction, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey promised to provide land two blocks away from the old location and a grant of $20 million dollars to rebuild the church.

Those promises were retracted last year, when the Port Authority broke negotiations with the Archdiocese of the Greek Orthodox Church. The plans to move the church and its congregation, already without a place of worship in almost ten years fell apart.

St. Nicholas, the tiny church that fell along with the World Trade Center giants during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 is thus being denied a new home worthy of its heritage and role; St. Nicholas is a symbol of worship, not just to Orthodox Christians but to all Americans.

All that, while President Obama delivers beautifully chosen words about “freedom of practicing religion” and the current plans to build a Muslim Mosque so very close to the Ground Zero hallowed ground.

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