10 years after 9-11 St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church remains without a home

...Discussions began for the rebuilding of the church soon after the dust of the disaster had settled and the city had begun to heal. St. Nicholas was an important stakeholder in the dialogue -- legally, as a property owner in the immediate vicinity of the disaster area known as Ground Zero -- and symbolically, as the only house of worship destroyed in the terror attacks.

Almost immediately, the tiny church became a David amongst a field of Goliaths including the states of New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, their governors and local officials, several local New York agencies, hundreds of corporations, and of course (and most importantly) the victims' families.

As early as July 2002 -- less than a year after the attacks, the Port Authority issued a statement that affirmed it was looking at six different options for the reconstruction of the World Trade Center site. All six proposals that were set forth included "a rebuilt St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church," according to the official press release.

In July of 2008, the Port Authority and the representatives of the church ultimately agreed that the church's existing land would be swapped for a larger parcel less than a hundred yards away.

In exchange for the original church land, the Port Authority agreed to donate $20 million toward construction since the new St. Nicholas church would be built on a platform above a bomb screening center -- not an ideal location for a house of worship that would ultimately become a gathering place of people from throughout the world, as well as the new home to the original St. Nicholas congregation.

Then, abruptly in March of 2009, the Port Authority sent a curt email to the representatives of the church stating that negotiations would be "terminated," ultimately reneging on its previous agreements with the church officials that were well documented and publicly noted by officials.

Shortly thereafter the Port Authority illegally moved in on the Church's property, put up a fence and began excavating on it -- without even notifying the owners -- claiming that they needed to begin construction on the screening center underground.

Read the rest here.