New York – After hours of contentious public comment, a New York City community board voted late Tuesday to support a plan to build a mosque and cultural center near ground zero.
Join our WhatsApp groupSubscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
“It’s a seed of peace,” board member Rob Townley said. “We believe that this is significant step in the Muslim community to counteract the hate and fanaticism in the minority of the community.”
The vote was 29-to-1 in favor of the plan, with 10 abstentions. The move by the Manhattan Community Board 1, while not necessary for the building’s owners to move forward with the project, is seen as key to obtaining residents’ support.
Some board members wanted to postpone a vote until the next meeting to gather more information about the project and the organizations sponsoring it. But the motion failed.
The meeting was unruly, with project opponents jeering at speakers and yelling comments such as “You’re building over a Christian cemetery!” while holding signs that read, “Show respect for 3000,” among other things.
Many said they were not opposed to a mosque — just not one that’s two blocks from ground zero.
The families of Sept. 11 victims “would be wounded by erecting a mega mosque so close to the place where their loved ones were massacred,” said Viviana Hernandez, a chaplain. “Even though they may have altruistic reasons, the real terrorists will see it as a win on their side.”
Tea party activist Mark Williams has called the proposed center a monument to the terror attacks.
The organizations sponsoring the project said they are trying to establish a vibrant and inclusive-world class facility.
Plans for the Cordoba House include a performing arts center, swimming pool, culinary school, child care facilities and worship space.
It would provide 150 full-time jobs, 500 part-time jobs and an investment in more than $100 million in infrastructure in the city’s financial district, according to Daisy Khan, spokeswoman for the Cordoba House.
Khan’s husband, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, executive director of the Cordoba Initiative, one of the project’s sponsors, said he understood the pain that people have about 9/11. But he said his community and congregation were among those that died in the attacks.
“We have condemned the terror of 9/11,” he said. “We have worked to ensure that our mosques are not recruiting grounds for terrorists.”
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer said in a statement that by supporting the multi-faith community and cultural center, the board “sent a clear message that our city is one that promotes diversity and tolerance.”
Stringer has been the target of disparaging remarks by Williams for supporting the plans and has defended his position and denounced offensive speech directed at him or at Muslims.
He said before the vote that he understood the sensitivities of the families of 9/11 victims.
“I don’t think anybody wants to do anything to disrespect those families. They made the ultimate sacrifice,” he said. “At the same time, we have to balance diversity and look for opportunities to bring different groups together.”
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said there were no security concerns about building a mosque in the area.
The American Society for Muslim Advancement and the Cordoba Initiative have said that they bought the building in 2009 and planned to break ground later this year. It could take up to three years to build the Cordoba House. A Friday prayer service has been held at the building since September 2009.
Besides the political and social opposition to the project, city officials say the plan also could be hindered by a decades-old proposal to give landmark status to a building that would be replaced by the mosque and center.
City officials say the current building, constructed between 1857 and 1858 in the Italian Renaissance palazzo style, is historically and architecturally significant.
Bruce Wallace, who lost a nephew on 9/11, said the center can change the misperceptions about Islam.
“The moderate Muslim voice has been squashed in America,” he said. “Here is a chance to allow moderate Muslims to teach people that not all Muslims are terrorists.”
Its called attack and conquer
Ossama Bin Ladin is having the last laugh.
The Community Board is filled with dumb politically correct idiots. They’ll reap what they sow.
Punch of liberal sell outs. Just watch how much hate and anti America gonna come from there
So they fell for the bait! In Islam your alowed to deceive for the sake of furthering Islam. Just wait and see how many terrorists will be found there!
being so politicly correct is distroing us!!!
Bunch of morans, afraid 2 take a real stand on issues, afraid that some in pakistan will call them racist, who cares? Let them build mosques wgere it belongs, egypt, pakisten, iran n so on
Get out of our faces,
Can anyone give us a breakdown of these board members? How many abduls n hussein, and kalids r on this board?
Its a shame to leave around here!!!
The issue is that mainstream Islam is violent as well and teaches to hate. Non oberving muslims are the ones who do not favor violence.
They will pray to their ala while planning new attacks c’v
hope goverment give permit to build nuclear & cemical weapon why hide be open and close to ground zero to replay[godforbid] 9/11thanks binladin looks like has a seat in planning board
They have no — errrr — guts to say NO! SHAME ON THEM!!!
So quickly sometimes it takes weeks more but they are so scared and liberally deranged…
This debate brings to mind the debate over the lagality of burning the American flag. One of the arguments for keeping flag burning legal is that if the flag represents freedom, then there is no greater symbol of freedom than allowing the flag be burned.
Here too, if we preach religious freedom and tolerance (and we Jews, who based on our history of religious persecution, are one of the greatest beneficiaries of this religious freedom and tolerance) then what greater display of adherence to that which we preach than allowing the construction of a mosque in close proximity to the 9/11 site.
Note: I am not a bleeding heart liberal. I actually consider myself a conservative (albeit, a pragmatic conservative, not one of those fanatical Tea Party conservative bigots).
the twisted muslim mind will see g-d’s hand and a 9-11 validation in all of this.
We as jews just have to support democracy imagine politicians would stop us building a shul
Horrible insult.
Where are they when something happens let them come out & strongly oppose this radicals then they could ask for a mosque
During the Golden Era in Spain, under Muslims rule, there was a law such that construction of churches was permitted only if fully one half of the structure was designed for use as a mosque. Shuls did not have this requirement.
Only in America are we so open-minded that our brains fall out!
Now this is CHUTZPAH… real CHUTZPAh. I am not a racist, but to have a mosque on thi sground where these momzarim killed over two thousand people really makes one think. The burough president is an idiot saying it will bring people togtaher. Lets’ see soem compsion from teh Moslems…. let’s see some feeling that what their co- religionists did to Americans was a hate cime… maybe and only maybe would I even listen to them. There should never be any mosque built with in 100 miles of ground zero. As for the remark…” the pople who brought down the towers are not asking for the mosque…” They are dead… they comitted this horrific act and took their own lives doing it… of course they are not around.
Let us not give in to PCers… Let’s not give into the European mind… “let them have their say”… if we do by the next generation we will not be allowed to have synagogues or churches and we will have to “daven b’lachash”. as we did during WWll. G-d forbid.
To not allow the building of a mosque solely because of the terrible acts committed by coreligionists is a dangerous slippery slope.
Maybe, we should deny the building of a shul because of a multi-billion Ponzi scheme perpetrated by one of our coreligionists.
Maybe a 50 year father of ten accused of commiting white collar crime should be denied bail because he may flee to Israel. Oh, wait, that already happened. We’re not too pleased, are we?
stop acting like all Muslims are evil! U people are no better than when Europeans considered all Jews communists becuase there were some jewish communists!
You know where this country is holding when you have to be more afraid of your own president then of arab terrorists. Terrorists are more predictable
It’s irrelevant. The incompetence at the site in that after almost a decade there is still nothing there. It will be at least 100 years before Mohammed rides his pony there. How do you attach a picture here?