A Little Piece of Greece in New York

This is the story of two Greek Orthodox cathedrals in New York – Agios Demetrios in Astoria & Agios Nikolaos in Manhattan.

Parishioners Rania & William Linsdell have recently returned from a trip to New York and sent us this account of their Greek experiences in the Big Apple

Agios Demetrios Cathedral

Based in Astoria in the New York borough of Queens, the cathedral is 35 minutes from Up Town Manhattan on the subway.

Astoria is an area where many Greeks migrated to from the early 20th Century and very soon a large community organised themselves to keep Greek traditions alive in their new homeland. Central to this was of course a place of worship and a committee was set up around 1925 with a goal to source land for this purpose.

The land on which the current cathedral stands was purchased in 1927 and a basic basement church constructed for services to be held. The dream of a cathedral persisted, with enough funds raised to allow building of the cathedral to start in 1936 and to be completed in 1942.

There was no service on whilst we visited but the cathedral was open so we entered to light a candle and have a look around. As you would expect the interior was lovely with painted friezes adorning the walls and a fine cupola.

Interior view of Agios Demetrios Cathedral in Astoria, showcasing a detailed cupola painted with religious icons and colorful stained glass windows.

Interior view of Agios Demetrios Cathedral in Astoria, showcasing the ornate ceiling, stained glass windows, wooden pews, and religious icons.

Today there are around 20,000 Greeks & Cypriots living in Astoria and the place resembles any neighbourhood that you might find in Athens or Larnaca. Restaurants, tavernas, cafes, delicatessen, pastry shops , florists and even peripteros.

We sat down to a Greek feast and were very grateful that we did not need to walk very far to the subway for our train back to Manhattan!

Footnote – since we came back to the UK we have read that the cathedral and adjacent school are in financial and organisational crisis, so much so that the Archdiocese of America has had to step in. You can read about it here.

This shows the importance of a strong, financially astute committee and how vital it is to have new generations of parishioners coming through who understand the importance of maintaining our culture for ever.

St Nicholas Cathedral

On 9th September 2001, the Twin Towers were destroyed by terrorists as we all know. Only one religious building was also destroyed – the original Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas. Like a phoenix the new cathedral rose from the rubble, albeit on a different site, to be consecrated on 4th July 2022. It now stands as a symbol of religious tolerance, renewal and hope. It opened fully on 6th December 2022 to coincide with the Feast of St Nicholas.

Exterior view of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, a modern cathedral in New York City, showcasing its distinctive architecture and surrounding urban landscape.

We visited on the 9th September 2025 for the 24th anniversary memorial of 911. On a beautiful sunny afternoon, the fire engines on display shone brightly and the brass buttons on the immaculate uniforms of NYPD & NYFD personnel sparked in the sunlight. The multitude of Stars & Stripes remained serene on the windless day. Of course many of the brave first responders later lost their lives too as a result of breathing in carcinogenic dust.

A fire truck with a large American flag design parked on a city street, surrounded by onlookers and modern buildings.

Police officers in uniform standing in front of a display of American flags, preparing for a memorial event.

St. Nicholas acts as a House of Prayer for all people, and functions as a national shrine and community centre, also incorporating a secular bereavement space, social hall, and various educational and inter-faith programmes.

We arrived at a very special time as a memorial service was taking place inside. There were speakers from multiple faiths. Especially poignant was the speech by an Anglican priest who had lost his fireman father in the tragedy. Initially extremely angry, he started drinking at a young age before eventually finding God and forgiving those who were responsible for his father’s death.

Archbishop Elpidophoros Lambriniadis, the head of the Greek Archdiocese of America also gave a heartfelt speech about forgiveness and inter-faith unity.

There was also some beautiful Byzantine singing in honour of those who lost their lives, some of which you can see and hear at the end of this article.

A religious leader in traditional attire speaks at a podium in front of ornate religious paintings in a church interior, with seated attendees in the foreground. — **Archbishop Elpidophoros Lambriniadis**

A speaker addresses an audience inside a cathedral, surrounded by religious icons and decorations. Attendees listen attentively, with the backdrop featuring detailed murals and golden embellishments. — **Archbishop Elpidophoros Lambriniadis**

The cathedral overlooks the Ground Zero 911 memorial, two infinity pools that cover the area of bases of the twin towers. A permanent reminder of the awful events that took so many innocent lives.