St. Nicholas, the Church That Rose from the Ashes of 9/11

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church was a plain, whitewashed church that stood in the shadow of the South Tower of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan, New York City. On September 11, 2001, the church was destroyed when the massive South Tower collapsed.  This is the story of how the little church was rebuilt into a uniquely beautiful national shrine.

The St. Nicholas congregation was formed by Greek immigrants in 1916. Originally, the congregation held services in the dining room of a hotel owned by one of the members. In 1919 some families in the congregation raised the money to buy the three-story building on Cedar Street that they would make into a church. It had been built in the 1830s as a private home, and then for a time it was a tavern. Even after the congregation added another floor the building was small, only 22 feet (6.7 meters) wide, 56 feet (17 meters) long, and 35 feet (10.6 meters) tall. But while the outside was plain, the interior was beautifully decorated with traditional iconography of Jesus, Mary, and the saints. The church was open to the public on Wednesdays and admired by many visitors.

As the years passed, the enormous skyscrapers of lower Manhattan grew around the tiny church. And the congregation grew also. By 2001 St. Nicholas had 70 families in its congregation.

St. Nicholas Church on September 11 and After

The attacks came on a Tuesday with a clear blue sky. A commercial airline plane slammed into the North Tower, and then another struck the South Tower. The South Tower was the first to collapse, just before 10 a.m. St. Nicholas was crushed. Fortunately, no one was in the church; minutes before the collapse the church sexton and an electrician had evacuated. Among the many incalculable losses of the day were relics of saints, including Saint Nicholas, that had been given to the church by Nicholas II, the last tsar of Russia. Archbishop Demetrios of the Archdiocese of America said that the saints’ relics intermingled with the remains of others lost that day sanctified the site further. But all that was found in the rubble were two damaged icons, a charred Bible, a twisted candelabra, and a few other liturgical items.

When the church was lost the congregants began attending other Greek Orthodox churches in the New York City area. But they were determined to rebuild. That, however, was quite the challenge. The September 11 attack damaged more than some World Trade Center towers. I was an eyewitness to the collapse of the towers and was able to visit lower Manhattan a few weeks later. There was visible damage for blocks outside what came to be called “Ground Zero.” All of the buildings of the World Trade Center complex were lost or condemned, and many buildings beyond that sustained millions of dollars in damages. And several — like the 39-story Deutsche Bank Building that was also near the South Tower — became tied up in litigation with insurance companies. At the same time, key infrastructure and transportation hubs had to be rebuilt. Some sort of memorial for what had happened on September 11 was necessary, of course. And as Manhattan is a narrow island on the Atlantic Ocean, building plans must avoid vulnerabilities to flooding. The rebuilding of the entire area required careful planning and coordination. It was not a matter of just letting the lot owners build whatever they wanted.

Complicating the challenge for St. Nicholas was the hope of building a bigger church, which would require moving it to a different lot. And this required long and complex negotiations with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which was overseeing the rebuilding. On July 3, 2008, the New York Times published a story by Charles V. Bagli about the church, headlined “Church’s Troubles Typify Ground Zero Delays.” The article describes how the negotiations were interrupted time and again by “disasters and distractions.” These including disputes over financing, building design, and discoveries of human remains at proposed relocation sites. But by 2014 a new lot had been chosen, and the way was clear to rebuild the church. Or so they thought.

The Saga Continues …

On October 18, 2014, he congregation of St. Nicholas Church held a groundbreaking ceremony on its new lot on Liberty Street, which was only 50 yards east of the original lot, but much bigger. (See “Greek Orthodox launch rebuilding of St. Nicholas, the only church destroyed on 9/11,” by Sarah Pulliam Bailey at Religion News Service.) The new church had been designed by the renowned Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, who said he took his inspiration from the Hagia Sophia and the Church of the Holy Savior in Chora, both in Istanbul.  “It will be a refuge for people in need of spiritual comfort, regardless of their specific beliefs or unbeliefs,” Archbishop Demetrios said.

There was great hope the church could be open by 2016, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the congregation. And then it was hoped the church would be open by 2018. But in 2017 building was suspended. There had been cost overruns, and money was running short. New fundraising efforts and new partnerships were formed. Construction was scheduled to resume in January, 2020. But then … Covid. You might remember that the Covid pandemic slammed New York City especially hard at first. Construction was delayed for a few more months.

Consecrated at Last

The St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine was officially consecrated on July 4, 2022. The church opened for regular services on December 6, 2022, the Feast of Saint Nicholas. “Now rebuilt and open for worship, the Church stands strong to the fullness of Orthodox Christian faith and is a Shrine for the Nation, a place for remembrance and reflection for all,” the church website says. “We continue our mission of bringing light and life to Lower Manhattan.” The church is open to the public from Monday to Sunday, 10 am-5 pm. Do visit the church website for more photos; the exterior images don’t do it justice.

And for what I think is the most uplifting story about September 11, please see “Saint Paul’s Chapel of Trinity Church: The Little Chapel That Stood.”