Posted on 02/15/2011 7:44:39 PM PST by marshmallow
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Greek Orthodox church damaged in the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York on Monday said it had sued local authorities on grounds they seized its land and prevented it from rebuilding.
Should the church of St. Nicholas prevail in court it could send authorities back to the drawing board in a World Trade Center rebuilding project already years behind schedule due to clashes over design, security and control.
The law suit centers on land the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is using for a vast underground parking garage that is part of the project involving five skyscrapers, a mass transit hub and a memorial.
"This case arises out of the arrogance, bad faith, and fraudulent conduct of the Port Authority, as agent for all of the agencies, in preventing St. Nicholas from rebuilding its church at Ground Zero after it was crushed by a falling tower," the Hellenic Eastern Orthodox Church of Saint Nicholas and The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese said in the complaint.
The complaint, brought in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, charged that the Port Authority in March 2009 "disavowed" a 2008 agreement to let the church rebuild at 130 Liberty Street, next to its original location at 155 Cedar Street, and pay it $20 million.
The Port Authority, in a statement, said the church had sought more than it was granted in the 2008 agreement and the agency "had to make a practical decision to move on or risk further delaying the entire World Trade Center project".
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Orthodox ping!
Give them the Muslims’ building and call it even.
No, just tell the thieves to give back the land and pay for the time they held it.
At first, the they wanted to put the garage right on the Towers’ footprints! What a fight *that* was! When they saw the public’s outrage, they moved the garage next door and basically “appropriated” this little church’s land.
With all the backing of the “Ground Zero Mosque,” there was little more than silence about the plight of the Greek Orthodox. The only ones I’ve heard discussing this subject are Steve Malzberg and Mark Levin.
This whole project has been outrageous. Libeskind won an international land use/design competition - his original design for the Freedom Tower is not the building going up. Silverstein, the lessee, basically took it away from him by putting his architect on the project. An architect who, along with his design group, was one of the loser finalists (very ugly design!) in said competition.
The Ground Zero project is nothing but bad politics, and this Christian congregation has been caught in the middle, with none of the support that the Muslims had.
Port Authority of NY/NJ may be the most corrupt organization around NYC, interesting this church raises that issue, again... Awesome picture of the church from the ground prior to the towers falling, I remember looking down on that church from way above, from within the WTC...
One of the Deputy Mayors tried to swing a deal to get the Port Authority out of it by swapping ownership of land they lease from the City at either Kennedy or La Guardia for Ground Zero. I can’t remember for sure, but I think it was Kennedy Airport. It was comparable land; the PA wouldn’t be losing anything.
The PA hung onto Ground Zero.
I was an involved citizen, and participated in various planning events, but I walked away from the whole thing when I saw all the self-interest ruining and running the show.
the Port Authority is full of back stabbers and useless executives who lie..
The PA of NY/NJ prior to 9/11 had always wanted to eliminate that little church in the WTC’s huge shadow, it was always in jeopardy... Not surprising the church is facing difficulty in rebuilding...
The entire former WTC site is a total disgrace in my opinion. It should have been restored exactly as it was prior to the destruction on 9/11, including that little church... To let islam reshape downtown NYC from anything other than what it exactly was is ludicrous. I left NYC when I learned it would not be restored. Glad to be outta there... NYC has caved in to islam.
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