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Mosque site ruled Not a Landmark
Ground Zero Mosque Clears Hurdle
Panel rules old store not a historic landmark
By Kevin Spak| Posted Aug 3, 2010 10:39 AM CDT| 'Ground Zero Mosque Clears Hurdle\r\n\r\nNew York’s Landmarks Preservation Commission paved the way for the “Ground Zero mosque” today, voting 9-0 that the building not be landmarked, and clearing the way for the structure to be torn down to make way for...' };
(Newser) – New York’s Landmarks Preservation Commission paved the way for the “Ground Zero mosque” today, voting 9-0 that the building not be landmarked, and clearing the way for the structure to be torn down to make way for the mosque. The 152-year-old building, which once housed a Burlington Coat Factory store, was not a protected landmark. Protesters heckled the commission after the vote, the New York Post reports.
More opposition to the Islamic community center has come out of the woodwork recently, with the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish rights group, joining the parties against it. “This is not a question of rights, but of what is right,” the ADL said, arguing that the building will “cause some victims more pain unnecessarily.” But the Landmarks Preservation Commission stressed that its decision had nothing to do with the community center, only the abandoned store’s cultural or aesthetic value.
Read more: http://www.newser.com/story/97145/ground-zero-mosque-clears-hurdle.html#ixzz0vdhjBzWB
You're in the News Nation & World - National Wire section
Group to fight vote clearing way for NYC mosque
Posted at 12:12 AM on Wednesday, Aug. 04, 2010
By KAREN MATTHEWS and BETH FOUHY - Associated Press Writers
NYC panel clears way for mosque near ground zero
A city panel Tuesday cleared the way for the construction near ground zero of a mosque that has caused a political uproar over religious freedom and Sept. 11 even as opponents vowed to press their case in court.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to deny landmark status to a building two blocks from the World Trade Center site that developers want to tear down and convert into an Islamic community center and mosque. The panel said the 152-year-old lower Manhattan building isn't distinctive enough to be considered a landmark.
The decision drew praise from Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who stepped before cameras on Governor's Island with the Statue of Liberty as a backdrop shortly after the panel voted and called the mosque project a key test of Americans' commitment to religious freedom.
Jewish group opposes ground zero mosque
The nation's leading Jewish civil rights group has come out against the planned mosque and Islamic community center near ground zero, saying more information is needed about funding for the project and the location is "counterproductive to the healing process."
The Anti-Defamation League said it rejects any opposition to the center based on bigotry and acknowledged that the group behind the plan, the Cordoba Initiative, has the legal right to build at the site. But the ADL said "some legitimate questions have been raised" about funding and possible ties with "groups whose ideologies stand in contradiction to our shared values."
"Ultimately this is not a question of rights, but a question of what is right," the ADL said in a statement. "In our judgment, building an Islamic center in the shadow of the World Trade Center will cause some victims more pain - unnecessarily - and that is not right."
NEW YORK -- Plans for an Islamic community center and mosque near ground zero moved forward as a city panel opened the way for developers to tear down a building that was struck by airplane debris on Sept. 11.
Even as the project's backers celebrated the decision, a conservative advocacy group founded by the Rev. Pat Robertson announced it would challenge the panel's vote in state court Wednesday.
Brett Joshpe, an attorney for the American Center for Law and Justice, said the group would file a petition alleging that the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission "acted arbitrarily and abused its discretion."
The panel voted unanimously on Tuesday to deny landmark status to a building two blocks from the World Trade Center site that developers want to tear down and convert into an Islamic community center and mosque. The panel said the 152-year-old lower Manhattan building isn't distinctive enough to be considered a landmark.
Oz Sultan, a spokesman for the developers, said they had no comment on the possible legal action by the ACLJ. But he said the developers were grateful for the decision by the landmarks panel.
AP Photo - Linda Rivera holds up a sign in opposition to the proposed mosque at 45-47 Park Place during a meeting of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, where the panel voted on the landmark status of the 152-year-old building, Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2010, in New York. The commission voted unanimously not to landmark the building, making way for the construction of the mosque.
"We're very happy it's moving forward," he said.
The decision drew praise from Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who stepped before cameras on Governor's Island with the Statue of Liberty as a backdrop shortly after the panel voted and called the mosque project a key test of Americans' commitment to religious freedom.
"The World Trade Center site will forever hold a special place in our city, in our hearts," said Bloomberg, a Republican-turned-independent. "But we would be untrue to the best part of ourselves, and who we are as New Yorkers and Americans, if we said no to a mosque in lower Manhattan."
The vote was a setback for opponents of the mosque, who say it disrespects the memory of those killed at the hands of Islamic terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001. Jeers and shouts of "Shame on you" could be heard after the panel's vote.
The proposed mosque has emerged as a national political issue, with prominent Republicans from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich lining up against it. The Anti-Defamation League, the nation's most prominent Jewish civil rights group, known for advocating religious freedom, shocked many groups when it spoke out against the mosque last week.
Former Rep. Rick Lazio, a Republican running for governor of New York, attended the commission meeting with a handful of opponents of the mosque, which is being developed by a group called the Cordoba Initiative. Lazio said the group's imam, Feisal Abdul Rauf, had refused to call the Palestinian group Hamas a terrorist organization.
Rauf also said in a "60 Minutes" interview televised shortly after Sept. 11 that "United States policies were an accessory to the crime that happened."
The Cordoba Initiative says on its website that its goal is to foster a better relationship between the Muslim world and the West.
"We believe it will be a place where the counter-momentum against extremism will begin," the imam's wife, Daisy Khan, told The Associated Press on Friday. "We are committed to peace."
The commission's decision not to designate the existing building as a landmark means that the developers can tear it down and start from scratch. If the building had been declared a landmark, they could have created a smaller mosque and community center there.
A partner in the project, SoHo Properties, bought the property for nearly $5 million. Early plans call for a 13-story, $100 million Islamic center with a swimming pool, basketball court, auditorium and culinary school besides the mosque. The center, called Park51, also would have a library, art studios and meditation rooms. A memorial will be dedicated to victims of the 9/11 attacks.
Sultan, who is the media relations director for Park51, said there was no timeline for starting demolition or construction, which is expected take 18 to 48 months.
Read more: http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/08/04/2028994/group-to-fight-vote-clearing-way.html#ixzz0vdkMFfNk
Panel rules old store not a historic landmark
By Kevin Spak| Posted Aug 3, 2010 10:39 AM CDT| 'Ground Zero Mosque Clears Hurdle\r\n\r\nNew York’s Landmarks Preservation Commission paved the way for the “Ground Zero mosque” today, voting 9-0 that the building not be landmarked, and clearing the way for the structure to be torn down to make way for...' };
(Newser) – New York’s Landmarks Preservation Commission paved the way for the “Ground Zero mosque” today, voting 9-0 that the building not be landmarked, and clearing the way for the structure to be torn down to make way for the mosque. The 152-year-old building, which once housed a Burlington Coat Factory store, was not a protected landmark. Protesters heckled the commission after the vote, the New York Post reports.
More opposition to the Islamic community center has come out of the woodwork recently, with the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish rights group, joining the parties against it. “This is not a question of rights, but of what is right,” the ADL said, arguing that the building will “cause some victims more pain unnecessarily.” But the Landmarks Preservation Commission stressed that its decision had nothing to do with the community center, only the abandoned store’s cultural or aesthetic value.
Read more: http://www.newser.com/story/97145/ground-zero-mosque-clears-hurdle.html#ixzz0vdhjBzWB
You're in the News Nation & World - National Wire section
Group to fight vote clearing way for NYC mosque
Posted at 12:12 AM on Wednesday, Aug. 04, 2010
By KAREN MATTHEWS and BETH FOUHY - Associated Press Writers
NYC panel clears way for mosque near ground zero
A city panel Tuesday cleared the way for the construction near ground zero of a mosque that has caused a political uproar over religious freedom and Sept. 11 even as opponents vowed to press their case in court.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to deny landmark status to a building two blocks from the World Trade Center site that developers want to tear down and convert into an Islamic community center and mosque. The panel said the 152-year-old lower Manhattan building isn't distinctive enough to be considered a landmark.
The decision drew praise from Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who stepped before cameras on Governor's Island with the Statue of Liberty as a backdrop shortly after the panel voted and called the mosque project a key test of Americans' commitment to religious freedom.
Jewish group opposes ground zero mosque
The nation's leading Jewish civil rights group has come out against the planned mosque and Islamic community center near ground zero, saying more information is needed about funding for the project and the location is "counterproductive to the healing process."
The Anti-Defamation League said it rejects any opposition to the center based on bigotry and acknowledged that the group behind the plan, the Cordoba Initiative, has the legal right to build at the site. But the ADL said "some legitimate questions have been raised" about funding and possible ties with "groups whose ideologies stand in contradiction to our shared values."
"Ultimately this is not a question of rights, but a question of what is right," the ADL said in a statement. "In our judgment, building an Islamic center in the shadow of the World Trade Center will cause some victims more pain - unnecessarily - and that is not right."
NEW YORK -- Plans for an Islamic community center and mosque near ground zero moved forward as a city panel opened the way for developers to tear down a building that was struck by airplane debris on Sept. 11.
Even as the project's backers celebrated the decision, a conservative advocacy group founded by the Rev. Pat Robertson announced it would challenge the panel's vote in state court Wednesday.
Brett Joshpe, an attorney for the American Center for Law and Justice, said the group would file a petition alleging that the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission "acted arbitrarily and abused its discretion."
The panel voted unanimously on Tuesday to deny landmark status to a building two blocks from the World Trade Center site that developers want to tear down and convert into an Islamic community center and mosque. The panel said the 152-year-old lower Manhattan building isn't distinctive enough to be considered a landmark.
Oz Sultan, a spokesman for the developers, said they had no comment on the possible legal action by the ACLJ. But he said the developers were grateful for the decision by the landmarks panel.
AP Photo - Linda Rivera holds up a sign in opposition to the proposed mosque at 45-47 Park Place during a meeting of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, where the panel voted on the landmark status of the 152-year-old building, Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2010, in New York. The commission voted unanimously not to landmark the building, making way for the construction of the mosque.
"We're very happy it's moving forward," he said.
The decision drew praise from Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who stepped before cameras on Governor's Island with the Statue of Liberty as a backdrop shortly after the panel voted and called the mosque project a key test of Americans' commitment to religious freedom.
"The World Trade Center site will forever hold a special place in our city, in our hearts," said Bloomberg, a Republican-turned-independent. "But we would be untrue to the best part of ourselves, and who we are as New Yorkers and Americans, if we said no to a mosque in lower Manhattan."
The vote was a setback for opponents of the mosque, who say it disrespects the memory of those killed at the hands of Islamic terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001. Jeers and shouts of "Shame on you" could be heard after the panel's vote.
The proposed mosque has emerged as a national political issue, with prominent Republicans from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to former House Speaker Newt Gingrich lining up against it. The Anti-Defamation League, the nation's most prominent Jewish civil rights group, known for advocating religious freedom, shocked many groups when it spoke out against the mosque last week.
Former Rep. Rick Lazio, a Republican running for governor of New York, attended the commission meeting with a handful of opponents of the mosque, which is being developed by a group called the Cordoba Initiative. Lazio said the group's imam, Feisal Abdul Rauf, had refused to call the Palestinian group Hamas a terrorist organization.
Rauf also said in a "60 Minutes" interview televised shortly after Sept. 11 that "United States policies were an accessory to the crime that happened."
The Cordoba Initiative says on its website that its goal is to foster a better relationship between the Muslim world and the West.
"We believe it will be a place where the counter-momentum against extremism will begin," the imam's wife, Daisy Khan, told The Associated Press on Friday. "We are committed to peace."
The commission's decision not to designate the existing building as a landmark means that the developers can tear it down and start from scratch. If the building had been declared a landmark, they could have created a smaller mosque and community center there.
A partner in the project, SoHo Properties, bought the property for nearly $5 million. Early plans call for a 13-story, $100 million Islamic center with a swimming pool, basketball court, auditorium and culinary school besides the mosque. The center, called Park51, also would have a library, art studios and meditation rooms. A memorial will be dedicated to victims of the 9/11 attacks.
Sultan, who is the media relations director for Park51, said there was no timeline for starting demolition or construction, which is expected take 18 to 48 months.
Read more: http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/08/04/2028994/group-to-fight-vote-clearing-way.html#ixzz0vdkMFfNk
That would be a fabulous idea!! But your right, highly unlikely. Would it ever be a step in the right direction though. The Imam did say that as this is an education center, they are going to have a Jew and a Christian on the board. That is all well and good, but I still say they need to change the location....to me that would show a true outreaching and true empathy for what happened that awful day.
If the Muslim community really wanted this to be an effort to reach out to the community, I heard an excellent suggestion on TV last night. Why not put in a Muslim Mosque, Christian church and a Jewish synagogue in the same building? That would be a real way to show the community you mean this to be a goodwill gesture.
Too bad, I know it will never happen.
Too bad, I know it will never happen.
This isn't a racial issue at all as far as I am concerned. It's about empathy for the 911 victims and their families. The idea of a Muslim education centre is not a bad one. This is just not the place for it. And in reading up about the Imam that is the public "face" of this project, I am not certain he is as moderate as he comes across. If this project is allowed to go forward it will be seen as a victory by the extremists and is a slap in the face to all New Yorkers and Americans.
A gentleman who is running for office in New York next election (senator I believe) is calling for transparancy in the funding, and an inquiry into it. I think that absolutely needs to happen...and wouldn't be surprised if one of the more radical groups is ultimately behind it. If this group truly wants this to promote peace and understanding as they claim, they would start by moving the location.
I still do not nor will ever believe that all Muslims are radical or involved in terrorism. That has nothing to do with this issue. Some things are plain old wrong and this is one of them. This must be stopped.
A gentleman who is running for office in New York next election (senator I believe) is calling for transparancy in the funding, and an inquiry into it. I think that absolutely needs to happen...and wouldn't be surprised if one of the more radical groups is ultimately behind it. If this group truly wants this to promote peace and understanding as they claim, they would start by moving the location.
I still do not nor will ever believe that all Muslims are radical or involved in terrorism. That has nothing to do with this issue. Some things are plain old wrong and this is one of them. This must be stopped.
If you honestly believe that the Muslims really want to honor this 9/11 victims OR if you believe that this Imam is really a "good guy", please go to Utube and watch these videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-UDl3j8WZQ&playnext=1&videos=BTeRZJ0nGXs
AND
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxFzFIDbKpg
If you believe that all of us against this mosque are just a bunch of racists, I really think you need to watch these. It's up to you to judge the validity of what they are saying. I probably can't open your eyes but at least you can't say you weren't warned.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-UDl3j8WZQ&playnext=1&videos=BTeRZJ0nGXs
AND
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxFzFIDbKpg
If you believe that all of us against this mosque are just a bunch of racists, I really think you need to watch these. It's up to you to judge the validity of what they are saying. I probably can't open your eyes but at least you can't say you weren't warned.
I agree with you. Can you imagine what you'd feel like if you were to visit Ground Zero where a loved one was murdered and heard the Muslim call to prayer. Lets not forget all those people who died with the sound of Allah Akbar ringing in their ears. It was the last thing they heard.
If this Imam really wanted to increase healing, he'd move it. There's more here. Besides they won't reveal their funding source. That is not good.
So anyone hear a chant of "HEL* NO, We Won't Go!!"
If this Imam really wanted to increase healing, he'd move it. There's more here. Besides they won't reveal their funding source. That is not good.
So anyone hear a chant of "HEL* NO, We Won't Go!!"
Yes, there were protesters at yesterdays ruling, but it obviously didn't make any difference. Hopefully this Mosque will get blocked some how. In the article above, it names the financial backers of the mosque. Please bombard their sites with letters of opposition, along with signing any petitions against the mosque.
If I lived in NY or could be there, I would be planting my as$ down on the site, when they go to break ground. Good old Sit-Ins are what they need to block this.
If I lived in NY or could be there, I would be planting my as$ down on the site, when they go to break ground. Good old Sit-Ins are what they need to block this.
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