For most of my life, New York City has been integral to my story. My mother took me to the city for the first time for my fifth birthday. The day before that birthday the two of us took the sets of elevators to the top of the World Trade Center towers to see the majesty of the greatest city in America. Several years later, my mother took me again to the city. This time we went at Thanksgiving. How amazing it was to see the Macy's parade in person and watch Santa make his yearly trek to his holiday season home on 34th street.
Christmas is pretty big in my world. Not only do I cherish celebrating the birth of Jesus but I love every other candy cane, cookie, ornament and Christmas card that I come across. I start listening to Christmas songs as soon as Santa enters Herald Square and I would keep my tree up all year if my husband would let me. I firmly believe in Christmas and Santa Claus miracles. I know that the Christmas Star brings wonderful things and I also know that it wasn't just a coincidence that the cane was in the corner of that house that Susie found on her way back from the retirement home.
When you research the history of Santa Claus, its quite easy to see why he and New York City are so closely tied. The earliest record of Santa's kindness is in Greek history in the fourth century. St. Nicholas was a Greek bishop who is credited with generous gift giving to the poor. He was very religious from a very early age and devoted his entire life to Christianity. Most depictions of him show him as a bearded Bishop in canonical robes. The draw of St. Nicholas' story was enough to allow him to be desired and claimed by several other countries. In 1087 , an Italian city mounted a expedition in order to locate relics of his and to enter the profitable pilgrimage business. Those relics were entombed in a Basilica in Bari. Irish historians state that some of his remains were moved to County Kilkenny where a marker can still be seen. St. Nicholas has also been claimed as a patron saint for children, sailors, archers, bankers, bakers and even pawnbrokers but also as the patron of Amsterdam and Moscow.
So it is any wonder that Santa makes his holiday home in a city that used to be called New Amsterdam and is known as a melting pot of cultures with the Greeks, Italians, Irish and Russians figuring so prominently?
It is with all of this in mind that I bring your attention to St. Nicholas Church in New York City. The St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church was founded in 1916 by Greek immigrants. Serving as as a spiritual haven for the community, the church was also a beacon for Greek shipping magnates traveling through New York City. Services at the 22' wide, 56' long and 35' tall church began in 1922 and it held countless services, weddings and funerals (my husband even attended a meeting in the basement once). The tiny church was shadowed by two other Lower Manhattan landmarks in 1973 when the World Trade Center towers opened. Although minuscule in comparison to the towers, the church stood strong and was a neighborhood icon until September 11, 2001.
The St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church was the only church to be destroyed by the terror attacks of September 11. The church was crushed under the weight of the South Tower when it collapsed at 9:59am. Thankfully, no one in the church was hurt but only a handful of icons and religious items were ever found amongst the rubble. The priest has been temporarily assigned to the Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Brooklyn and the congregation is warmly welcomed there but it is not their own.
Almost nine years later, St Nicholas has still not been rebuilt. Nor have the towers or anything else in the empty pit that is Ground Zero. This is ridiculous and disheartening and as an American I am floored that we are still fighting bureaucrats and red tape to get started with the rebuilding of the symbols that will tell the rest of the world that we were not destroyed by the horrific events of September 11.
I think that because there has been no visible rebuilding at Ground Zero, this idea (that the NY Mayor and other politicians have in essence green-lighted) of a new Mosque being built two blocks from the pit is such a blow. The controversy over the building of the Cordoba Center is not about religious freedom. There is an Islamic cultural center nearby in SoHo and at least six other Islamic centers on the island. No level-headed person has said that the Islamic faith leaders do not have the right to build but rather the location is simply a dagger into the hearts of the thousands of family members who lost loved ones on September 11, 2001 and to the millions of Americans who were affected by the attacks. It is in fact yet another insult added to the irrevocable injuries of September 11. There is no permanent monument to the victims killed in the terror attacks, there are no towers, there is no St Nicholas Church, there IS an EMPTY HOLE and now the political leaders of New York City want instead to focus on the building of a mosque.
If the politicians, unions and bureaucracy in New York had let private industry step in and take over the rebuilding efforts, the World Trade Center would again be standing tall and proud and in the shadows of the new beautiful towers would again be a beacon for all who love the neighborhood, the city, out history and our future - a rebuilt St Nicholas Church. And most likely the majesty of the towers, the church and the spirit that had rebuilt them would have dwarfed any controversy that the building of a mosque could ever create.
So here I sit wishing for a Santa Claus miracle. Santa, your city needs you. The families of the September 11 victims and the citizens of New York City are on the Good List and they need for you to deliver them the greatest gift of all. Please Santa, come early and help the politicians and bureaucrats to see the insanity they are perpetuating and please allow them to change their ways and allow the good people of New York and the private industry behind them to rebuild all that we have lost. We need you move just a little downtown. We now need a Miracle on Wall Street.
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