 In July 2010 George Demos, a former SEC attorney and Republican Congressional candidate, first brought the failure to rebuild St. Nicholas Church into the national debate.Demos said that the Executive Director of the Port Authority, Chris Ward, had not made rebuilding St. Nicholas church a top priority.On August 16, 2010, Demos launched a petition on his website calling on the Port Authority to rebuild the church, calling the Port Authority "disingenuous and disrespectful".