Battery Park City chapel that houses 9/11 memorial fighting to stay open

LOWER MANHATTAN (WABC) -- A chapel in Battery Park City that is home to a 9/11 memorial is fighting to stay open.

Parishioners say the Archdiocese of New York decided to close Saint Joseph Chapel because of a nearly three-fold rent increase.

In the aftermath of the attacks, the chapel served as a morgue, a FEMA command center and a respite station for first responders.

Parishioners and 9/11 families want the Battery Park City Authority and New York State officials to intervene and save the chapel.

"It's a piece of us, it's a piece of our history and it's a piece of Battery Park City. It's a piece of who we are," said Justine Cuccia of Democracy for Battery Park City.

"Across the street was the pit of death and doom and Saint Joseph Chapel was a place where 9/11 families found some comfort and some hope," said Sally Regenhard, mother of a 9/11 victim.

The Battery Park City Authority says its board is reviewing the lease of the company that manages the land on which the chapel sits.