Churc

Published by GreekNewsOnline.com, July 11, 2005

Bad Deal for St Nicholas Church in Ground Zero?

Milstein Strikes it rich, but Greek Orthodox Church gets “taken” for a bad ride, says Democratic nominee Arthur Piccolo

For those of you who like myself follow Ground Zero "politics" (and that is exactly what it is) very very closely you will remember the first attempt to take advantage of 'lowly' and 'unimportant' (politically) St. Nicholas Church the one religious house of Worship destroyed utterly on 9/11.

Pataki and Bloomberg and "their" Lower Manhattan Development Corp. tried to slip a Big One past the Greek community and the Greek Orthodox Church by moving the site for the planned new Church all the way to the other side of the Trade Center complex adding further insult placing it in the middle of what would have been a Traffic Island.

It was back to the original site of the Church and line drawings showing the new St. Nicholas would stand alone and be surrounded by a lovely tree lined plaza on all sides. It wasn't long after that LMDC began trying again with "discussions" of rather creating an ecumenical center on the site and have a St. Nicholas chapel tucked into it.

Of course that "plan" will always be on the table and a threat to St. Nicholas until finally all of Ground Zero is fully built and we actually see if St. Nicholas is truly standing rather than a hidden part of "something" else. There are of course many non-Greek power interests in our city that would prefer not to see the Greek Orthodox Church be THE religious center of attention for generations to come at Ground Zero.

LMDC announced over the weekend that they had purchased from Howard Milstein the larger portion of the block on which St. Nicholas had stood. The block bounded until 9/11 by Liberty, Washington, Cedar and West Streets. St. Nicholas was the only structure on the block. The rest served as a public parking lot owned by Milstein.

Keep in mind nothing was ever built on this attractively sited small block prior to 9/11 because it would have been literally impossible to have built a viable commercial or residential building there without buying out St. Nicholas which stood right in the center of the property. And these Greek parishioners had no interest in selling their historic church.

Now in June 2005 after Pataki and Bloomberg and LMDC had promised that St. Nicholas could rise again right where it had stood before, instead LMDC just agreed to purchase the apprx. 20,000 sq. ft. of the block Milstein owns for a staggering $3000 per sq. ft. in total of about $60 Million PLUS giving him non-competitive rights to the last 2 remaining residential parcels at Battery Park City which will be worth tens of millions or more to Milstein.

What is St. Nicholas getting?
Shafted.
They will not get cash for their 1210 sq. ft. parcel which at the same $3000 per sq. ft. is worth $3,630,000. Instead they get to swap their parcel for another slightly larger basically a block away right next to what will be the most congested point in the WTC complex if not all of Lower Manhattan. THE principal really the only entrance to the massive underground docking and parking facility for trucks, buses and all other vehicles, that will serve the entire complex.

If St. Nicholas was treated like Milstein .. They would have been offered $3,630,000 for rebuilding expenses AND the plot of land on which to build it. Even if they were charged market rates instead for this "new" 1500 sq. ft. with sq. ft. prices in the area currently valued at $260 per sq. ft. ( according to the AP story ) they would pay LMDC $390,000 for the "new" parcel which would still leave them with a $3,240,000 payment from LMDC IF they got the same deal Milstein got.

St. Nicholas should be must be allowed to rebuilt right on the sacred site on which it was the only religious institution destroyed on 9/11. That entire small block should be so dedicated with beautiful inviting gardens surrounding the Church, placed at the center of the parcel.

The main WTC vehicle ramp and main security check point an above ground structure for these purposes does NOT belong at this location. It would be difficult to think of a worse place for the congestion and the unsightly line up of vehicles that will take place at this entry point probably 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

All of this is just one more frightening example of the out of control LMDC "working" to undermine Ground Zero and the future of Lower Manhattan. All their planning with a few rare exceptions is haphazard, illogical and fragmented with no over all logic or appeal.

The abuse of St. Nicholas and the sweet heart deal for a wealthy real estate developer is just the latest terrible example. As one individual I am fully committed to the reconstruction of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church on the site where it stood for so many years somewhat larger and certainly more magnificent than before.

And with the State and City offering the same kind of lucrative financial package to the St. Nicholas congregation they have been offering others such as real estate developer Howard Milstein right now.

*** Arthur Piccolo, Chairman of the Bowling Green Association and candidate for NYC Mayor



Volume 7 Number 28 - Tuesday, July 12th, 2005	A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY