Source: The New York Times
The Greek Orthodox house of worship was destroyed on Sept. 11. After 21 years and $85 million, its glowing new home has opened.
“St. Nicholas has been part of my family my whole life,” Ms. Pavlakos, a lawyer, said.
Her connection to St. Nicholas can be traced to her grandparents, who left Greece in the early 1900s and settled in Lower Manhattan, then a bustling immigrant community. Residents there scraped together money and bought a tavern on Cedar Street that they converted to a place of worship, eventually adding a bell at the top.
These original parishioners, who had arrived by boat, named their church after the patron saint of seafarers — a saint who fed the hungry and clothed the needy and inspired the character of Santa Claus…
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