Manhattan, NY – Controversial Islamic Center Near Ground Zero Quietly Advances

Manhattan, NY – If not for the police car constantly parked out front, the Islamic community center two blocks from the former site of New York’s World Trade Center would hardly be noticed.

Inconspicuously named after its downtown location, “Park51″ occupies a 19th-century industrial building that formerly housed a coat factory.

But what its developers envision is a $100 million, 15-story, modernistic structure that becomes a major multifaith cultural institution.

That vision provides contrasts stark with events of a year ago, when the idea of building a Muslim center and mosque in the vicinity of the 9/11 attacks stirred public passions in New York City and across the country.

Last year, around the ninth anniversary of the attacks, major demonstrations and counterdemonstrations were held over the development that has been dubbed “The Ground Zero Mosque” by its critics.

One year later, although the controversy has not ebbed away entirely, Park51 is quietly blending into the neighborhood.

The center organizes Arabic-language classes for kids, book and poetry readings, lectures on various aspects of Islamic culture and on the threat of Islamophobia, film screenings, and yoga classes.

The promotional brochure for Park51 says it intends to “establish a positive profile for Muslim cultures in the United States.”

There has also been an attempt to include people of other faiths in the center’s activities. New York-born Jewish photographer Danny Goldfield was invited to host its inaugural photo exhibit.

Plans for Park51 are being modeled after the city’s popular Jewish Cultural Center in uptown Manhattan.

But Park51 is also facing some obstacles.

There are reports of a rental dispute with Con Edison, the New York City utility company, over unpaid rent. Con Edison owns half of the loft space where the Islamic Center is planned. Both entities are now in legal proceedings.

Still, Sharif El-Gamal, the principal developer of Park51, says that if commercial development is prohibited, the mosque will still be built.