Chapel which survived Sept 11 attacks may be killed off by rent hike

New York

IN the stench and smoulder that followed the Sept 11 attacks, emergency workers ripped the pews out of the little Roman Catholic chapel opposite the World Trade Center site in Battery Park City in Manhattan and used the church as a command station. As the weeks passed, the pastor erected a tent outside to celebrate Mass. The interior was used by the workers at ground zero as a place for food, rest and counselling.

When residents of Battery Park City began returning home three months later, they were determined to restore the chapel, St Joseph's. So the parish held a national fundraising drive. It commissioned sacred artworks for the space to amplify the theme of rebirth.

The chapel was rebuilt as both a prayer space and a Catholic memorial to the horrors and heroism of Sept 11, 2001. In 2005, Cardinal Edward Egan officiated at the rededication. In a spot that for so long had felt like a war zone, it was a sign that life …