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St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church is unsurprisingly still not complete. However, it seems there have recently been small signs of construction moving further to completion.

October 31 2022


November 18 2022


Night view October 31/November 1 2022


Night view November 18/November 19


This is assuming of course that the panels placed on the top of the dome won't again be removed (which they have been in the past). The western roof terraces still look unfinished.

There is this recent article from https://www.goarch.org/-/11-2022-st-...h-thanksgiving commemorating Thanksgiving:

New York, Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church: We enter into the Season of Thanksgiving

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

With tremendous gratitude to The Friends of Saint Nicholas for their constancy and their faith, we enter into the Season of Thanksgiving preparing to commence the regular liturgical life of the Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine on the Feastday of the Wonderworker of Myra. What a cause for thankfulness, that after twenty-two long years, we are now ready to open the doors to the Shrine for all the world to behold our faith, our traditions, and our beauty.

With the presiding priest of the parish, the Reverend Protopresbyter Andreas Vithoulkas, together with a small staff and the devoted laypersons of the Parish Council, the Saint Nicholas parish that graced Lower Manhattan with prayer and worship will once again take up its rightful place at Ground Zero. The fully functioning Parish will not only bear witness to our Faith and Traditions, but as the National Shrine provide a vital service of religious presence and intercessory reconciliation at Ground Zero. Where so much destruction was wrought out of hatred, Saint Nicholas will be a sacred place of faith, hope, and love for all people who pass through its doors.

We have traveled a long way to get here, to these days when the Eucharist will be continuously celebrated once again “for the life of the world.” And in the midst of our celebrations, there will always be the story of Saint Nicholas, the Hierarch from Asia Minor whose loving ministry has been acknowledged around the world in different forms, preeminently in the figure of Santa Claus. What a gift we have to give to the world, by teaching and preaching the pure Orthodox Faith on this Hallowed Ground, and bringing the true Saint Nicholas, the “Victory of the People,” to life through our mission and service at the rebuilt World Trade Center.

I pray that as we enter this season of Thanksgiving, and indeed preparation through fasting and prayer for the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Flesh, that we all give birth in our hearts to an intense and urgent desire to serve the world through our Saint Nicholas National Shrine. This is where we have a truly national and international opportunity to glorify God and share the riches and treasures of our Orthodox Christian Faith.

With Paternal Love and Blessings,

†ELPIDOPHOROS
Archbishop of America

Additionally there is this note suggesting the church will very soon be open for worship services:

The Saint Nicholas National Shrine–
Promises Made, Promises Kept

MESSAGE FROM THE FRIENDS OF ST. NICHOLAS

Dear Supporters of the St. Nicholas National Shrine,

The Friends of Saint Nicholas are so very thankful and proud that our Shrine for the Nation, the resurrected Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, is opening for regular worship, beginning with the Feastday of its Patron Saint. As the last of the Icons are being installed, we know that there is great expectation among the faithful and even the wider New York Community for the full experience of the rebuilt Church and now, a National Shrine.

The Friends of Saint Nicholas made a solemn pledge to God, to our Church, and to ourselves that this holy work would be completed and revealed as the truly historic and magnificent edifice that it is. The Greek Orthodox Community around the country and the world can be proud that the promise that was made in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 – when the smoke still choked eyes and lungs, when the fires still raged below the surface, when the grief and magnitude of the loss still shocked our minds and hearts – the promise has been kept!

The Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine is complete. It will open for regular worship and attendance and for visitors during the Feastday celebrations surrounding December 6th, the Nameday of the Saint. It is a day that has been celebrated in the past at or near the site, but now, it marks the restoration of the Church to the community of Ground Zero.

Saint Nicholas is the promise of faith, the promise that is seen through the eyes of faith. We believed, and we acted. We have always believed that the dawn of the Shrine was just around the corner, and we now rejoice that the sun is shining through the very walls of Saint Nicholas, and will illuminate our beautiful Orthodox faith for all the world to see.

We thank all of you for standing with us and helping to bring the promise to fulfillment. God has been gracious to us, and we pray that we shall always be worthy of your support and your trust.

Χρόνια Πολλά to all!

With Gratitude,

Michael Psaros
Chairman

Dennis Mehiel
Vice Chairman

Father Alex Karloutsos
Advisor