NY/NJ Port Authority and NYC Mayor Bloomberg Flout the US Constitution

As I recently blogged here:

It is absolutely inexcusable that, nine years on, that there are still no plans to rebuild the Orthodox Christian Church building that was destroyed on September 11, 2001. The parish still exists, but the New York/New Jersey Port Authority has made it impossible for the priest and parishoners to rebuild either on their original site or on any alternative neighboring site. The rebuilding of this church is being tied up in red tape, while at the same time, Mayor Bloomberg has been lobbying for 9-11 tax dollars to be used for building the Ground Zero Mosque.

Mayor Bloomberg and the NY/NJ Port Authority are violating the First Amendment to the US Constitution in two ways. They are violating the “free exercise” clause by making it impossible for the parish of St. Nicholas to rebuild their church, either on their original property or on an adjacent plot of land. Second, by promoting the infamous Ground Zero Mosque project, they are creating a de facto establishment of religion in New York City, namely Islam.

It is a long-standing practice of Islamic governments to destroy and expropriate church property, and to stop their Christian inhabitants from building, rebuilding, or even repairing their church buildings. For example, the Muslims in occupied Kosovo have destroyed well over a hundred Orthodox Christian churches, along with monasteries, Orthodox cemeteries, and other church property. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia forbids Christian worship and the construction of Christian churches entirely.

Is this the path that New Yorkers want their city to follow?

Statement of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and St. Nicholas Church, Announcing Federal Suit against the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

Feb 14, 2011

NEW YORK – On February 14, 2011, St. Nicholas Church and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court in Manhattan against the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey as well as other agencies and individuals, in order to foster the rebuilding at Ground Zero of the only house of worship destroyed by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

The Parish and the Archdiocese would have preferred to rebuild the Church without litigation. However, they have been unable to do so since the Port Authority renounced a long-standing agreement with the Church to rebuild at Ground Zero, seized the Church’s land, barred the Church from access to it, and has refused to talk or meet with the Church or the Archdiocese. This legal action has been taken not only as a last resort to restore the property and rebuilding rights of St. Nicholas Church, but also to fulfill the common vision of civil and church authorities that the Church be rebuilt as a place of prayer and meditation at Ground Zero for all people.

While the Port Authority has claimed publicly that it is currently in discussions with the Archdiocese in order to foster the rebuilding effort, in fact, in March of 2009 it summarily disavowed its agreement with the Archdiocese to rebuild St. Nicholas at 130 Liberty Street, a site chosen by the Port Authority, which is adjacent to the original location. Since that time, the Port Authority has rebuffed all efforts by the Church to work with it regarding the rebuilding.

Contrary to working cooperatively with the Archdiocese and the Parish, a posture which had prevailed between 9/11 and the Port Authority’s abrupt turnabout in March 2009, the Port Authority—without permission, notice, or any legal justification whatsoever—has sent its bulldozers onto both the land still owned by the Church at its original site at 155 Cedar Street, and the land provided to the Church at 130 Liberty Street pursuant to its agreement with the Port Authority. The Port Authority has conducted extensive excavation and other construction work that has kept the Church off of its own property, and has rendered both sites unbuildable by the Church without substantial remedial work.

The Parish and the Archdiocese hope that through this lawsuit, just and fair rulings will be made allowing for the prompt re-construction of St. Nicholas at Ground Zero, not only as a church serving its flock, but also as a greater ministry bringing peace, reconciliation and a sacred space of recollection and remembrance for all people visiting Ground Zero.