Port Authority nears deal with church destroyed on 9/11/2001
by Ron Marsico/The Star-Ledger Wednesday July 23, 2008, 10:01 PM
The Port Authority has agreed to a land swap and a $20 million payment to St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Lower Manhattan to help the congregation rebuild after the original structure was destroyed when the World Trade Center collapsed on 9/11, agency officials familiar with the deal said.
The church will receive a parcel of up to 8,100 square feet for the new church at Liberty and Greenwich streets, approximately two blocks from its original 1,200-square-foot site at Cedar and West streets, according to tentative terms of the deal.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey's board of commissioners is slated to vote on the proposal Thursday, according to the officials who spoke only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the deal publicly before the agency's monthly meeting.
Resolving the situation with the church is just one of at least 15 key elements Port Authority representatives last month said must be settled before the rebuilding of Ground Zero could proceed.
At the time, agency officials belatedly conceded the overall plan to create new skyscrapers, a 9/11 memorial and a PATH rail hub at the site faced significant delays and cost overruns. The assessment came after New York Gov. David Paterson sought a progress update.
"It's a linchpin issue," one of the Port Authority officials said of the deal with St. Nicholas representatives.
Relocating the church will allow the Port Authority to proceed with plans to construct an underground vehicle-security center at the southern tip of Ground Zero that would serve the rebuilt former World Trade Center site.
Nearby, plans also call for an office tower - tentatively slated to be constructed by JP Morgan Chase - to be built where the damaged Deutsche Bank building awaits demolition.
Port Authority officials have said they expect to have more realistic timetables and cost estimates ready by the end of September for rebuilding the entire project, anticipated to cost $16 billion. While announcing the delays last month, the agency's top leaders pledged to work with other major players to help resolve a myriad of outstanding issues, including the future of the church, that have dragged on without solutions for years.
Among the remaining issues are determining final design plans for the permanent PATH hub, engineering work on the memorial and how best to erect permanent supports for the city's No. 1 subway line that cuts through the tract.
Representatives of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church could not be reached for comment.
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