Greek Archdiocese files claim on Ground Zero church

(WSJ) - The leaders of St. Nicholas Church, the small whitewashed Greek Orthodox Church destroyed by falling debris on Sept. 11, 2001, have begun legal action against the Port Authority demanding that the church be rebuilt under the terms of a deal worked out several years ago.

A claim filed against the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey by church leaders and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America on Monday accused the agency, which is overseeing Ground Zero's rebuilding, of engaging in "arrogance, bad faith and fraudulent conduct" and "shabby and unlawful treatment."

Under state law, the church is required to file a notice of claim against the Port Authority for some of its claims, and wait 60 days before it can go to court, according to Mark. G. Cunha, a lawyer for the church.

In 2008, after years of discussions, the Port Authority and the church announced an agreement to rebuild the church, which was originally located on Cedar Street, on a nearby site on Liberty Street. As part of the deal, the Port Authority said it would pay $20 million toward the cost of the new church.

But in March, the deal fell through. The Port Authority accused the church of making excessive demands, while church leaders say the Port Authority unilaterally withdrew from negotiations.

John Kelly, a spokesman for the Port Authority, said officials hadn't yet seen the filing and couldn't comment on it. But he said: "We very much hope the Orthodox Church rebuilds on their original site."

In papers served on Monday the church is now seeking to compel the Port Authority to live up to the terms of what the church said is a "binding preliminary agreement."

It said that even after the Port Authority backed away from the agreement, the authority began digging in the site of the old church and is trespassing "without permission, notice or any legal justification." The underground portion of the old church site is part of what is to become an underground vehicle security center, where trucks entering the site would be searched.

"Filing a lawsuit is not something that we really want to do," said the Rev. Mark Arey, the ecumenical officer for the archdiocese and a spokesman for the church. "We have come to this point because we have been ignored and bullied."

As a measure of the frayed relations between the Port Authority and the church, the suit cites a series of alleged civil-rights and constitutional violations, including the charge that the Port Authority had interfered with the church's right to freely exercise religion. It also accuses the Port Authority of defaming the church.

In addition to the Port Authority, the claim also names the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. as a potential defendant. The LMDC said it didn't have a comment on the matter.

The church traces its roots to Greek immigrants in 1916, and services began on the Cedar Street site in 1922. On Sunday, scores of families from St. Nicholas and other nearby churches gathered at Ground Zero in a vigil to pray for the rebuilding on the church on the eve of the annual feast day of St. Nicholas.