The Roman Catholic St Joseph's Chapel in New York, which saw its rent increase to 264,000 dollars (£203,830) a year in 2014, is surviving on subsidies from the archdiocese.
The landlords offered a significant reduction in rent, said a spokesman for the developers who own the building, but parishioners said this is not nearly enough and fear the chapel will shut.
Parishioners are praying for a miracle to save the chapel.
It was used as a command centre - with rescue workers sleeping on its floors and priests celebrating Mass in a tent outside - after the attacks which destroyed the World Trade Centre on September 11 2001.