NYC community board OKs ground zero mosque plans
 

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.

"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."


link

So are we saying that all Muslims are terrorists or sumn?

I don't know if this is going to be a good thing.

^ I think it's more of a sensitivity issue - and building a mosque in the shadow of the World Trade Center isn't exactly sensitive.

I hope to God they allow a Synagogue, Church, and Temple to all be built on the site as well then.

There's already a church close by, closer to Ground Zero than the mosque will be.

I'm not really sure how I feel, or if I care too much, about this.

People get so bothered about this when on a daily basis, they won't even think about it.

See that's my issue. The people that get bothered about it.

I really love reading the comment section of articles like this. People really show their true colors.

About the mosque, I doesn't really bother me. People make the argument that "they wouldn't let us build a church over there". Well aren't we supposed to be "better" than that? Land of the free? People want to say how great the US is only when it benefits them.

I think the building of the mosque is a much needed gesture at the least to try to bridge the gap to help people understand Islam and those that follow its beliefs.

It's a community center that includes a mosque. It's not even like minarets and "stereotypical mosque building here"

Also I love how we're "ok" with a mosque, just not "here."

I had heard about this last week and one of the factors that is getting people up in arms is that the Imam involved with this has made controversial comments/writings in the past. I noticed that wasn't in the article. Some see this as being a show of Islamic supremacy, a modern day version of Dome of The Rock or Hagia Sophia.

Yeah it has nothing to do with Dome of the Rock or Hagia Sophia. It's a community center with a mosque, kind of like how my Catholic campus had a YWCA and a mosque on it.

I think the thing that gets most people 'up in arms' about it is that it's Islam and that a majority of them wouldn't know what an Imam was or what a controversial statement in Islam was.

Googled because I can't do anything else due to wet carpet.

Imam Feisal

Yes. Totally radical.

Only sites I can find with arguments objecting are places like WND and they say things like "No decent American, Muslim or otherwise, would do such a thing."

I can't find anything he's said that's shocking or offensive. At most he's coming from a different perspective, for example stating that Muslim youth are growing up in dictatorships that Western countries helped create and admitting that part of America's responsibility is necessary to make progress. Spin as much as they like, that doesn't mean he's saying it's all America's fault.

In short, meh. Unimpressed.

Also, Dome of the Rock was a mosque before it was a church before it was a mosque.
The Hagia Sofia was a church then a mosque then a museum. Neither of these comparisons fits.

Any ol' ways...

link


NEW YORK (AFP) – Controversial plans to build a mosque near the site of the New York towers destroyed in the Septmeber 11, 2001 terror attacks cleared a big hurdle Tuesday as a city panel voted to end protected status for an existing structure on the site.

The city's Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously in favor of an application to end the protected status of the 1850s Italian Renaissance palazzo-style building near the site of the former World Trade Center.

The commission voted 9-0 in favor of removing the building at 45-47 Park Place from the landmarks list, said the body's chairman Robert Tierney. The building now houses only an abandoned clothing store.

Many applauded the decision, but others shouted "shame" and one women held a placard saying: "don't glorify murders of 3,000, no 9/11 mosque" and "Islam builds mosques at the sites of their conquests."

Supporters say the project will help build bridges between the West and the Muslim world and transform both the drab lower Manhattan street and the way Americans have looked on Muslims since the deadly attacks in 20011.

Boasting a mosque with sports facilities, a theatre and possibly day care, the multi-story Islamic center would be open to all visitors to demonstrate that Muslims are part of their community, not a separate element.

But the proposed mosque's location, just around the corner from the gaping Ground Zero hole, where nearly 3,000 people died on September 11, 2001, has angered many New Yorkers who see it as an affront.

Two thumbs way up.

There's already a mosque closer to Ground Zero, and this building is not just a mosque but a swimming pool, community center, etc.

Muslims died in 9-11 too. Unless these Muslims had something to do with it, people (especially non-NYers) should stop trying to interfere with their freedom of religion and their right to buy and use property how they wish - within all pertinent regulations.

I don't really understand what the big deal is. So some anti-Muslim bigots get ticked because they think Islam=terrorism. They'll be around for awhile, not worth getting worked up over. I don't see how NYC really had a choice in this matter.

And God smiled.

Sit down.

*cheers*

Good on the LPC. Other than a handful of buildings, the neighborhood is not "architecturally or historically significant," which is a huge part in what makes a building worth landmarking.

Every time I hear this story, I want to say --- They are not the same people.

It is so bigoted and prejudicial to think that because some bad people CLAIM to be of a certain religion, then all people of that religion aren't to be trusted.

What does a mosque, church, temple have to do with the World Trade Center? NOTHING.
They have nothing to do with each other. Only in the minds of people who like to stereotype and generalize would a building 2 blocks away have anything to do with the victims of 9/11.

I am glad to see that America is moving forward and lawmakers in New York are not that biased.

How many (not including the one's flying and hijacking the planes)?

Insensitive at best to build this so close to "ground zero" but this is NYC's problem.

i am very familiar with the area by the trade center having gone to high school over there. the community center would be on one of the less busy side streets because there aren't any popular stores on it. it's mostly side and freight entrances to buildings whose entrances are on its the cross streets. it use to be the home to a burlington coat factory which was one of the many businesses that shut down after 9/11. the building has been sitting there unused in crappy condition for years (i don't recall it being particularly nice when it was in use actually,) it by no means is in a location that would be obtrusive to people visiting the memorial. unless it is covered in neon lights it will be very easy to miss.

it kind of worries me how easy it for some people to speak against this mosque. between this and all the bias crimes that have been happening in staten island its sad that people can live in new york city and still be so xenophobic. for all these people in nyc calling themselves "real americans" chances are if they live in any part of nyc their grandparents or great grandparents weren't born here.

It shouldn't matter if it's 279 or 1.

Enough, including rescue workers.

How does a Muslim place of worship have anything to do with terrorists?

Yea, I was going to say the same thing.

I doubt we'd hear anything like this if there had been, say, a church/reflection area/etc built near a domestic terrorism site.

Why would this matter?

Why not? That is what the mantra is from supporters and that is the justification used.

Would you agree to the building of a memorial to the Axis War dead next to Auschwitz/Buchenwald/Bergen-Belsen?

A monument to Japanese war dead near the Arizona?

A white supremacist headquarters next to a Civil Rights Museum?

This is just too in your face. I would rather see a building open to all and dedicated to all religions (Judaism/Muslim/Christian/Hindu etc) instead.

But this is just my opinion and in the end the people of NYC have to live with these type decisions which are what I consider "in poor taste".

The "Official" Islamic Religion didn't coordinate the attacks. A group of individuals (who happened to be Muslim) did.

Not the same as your examples.

FYP

Also if you read the Qur' an it quite plainly states that murder is a sin. There is a reason Muslim groups, including the Nation of Islam who isn't even considered to be Muslim by many Muslims, spoke out against the attacks.

On a much smaller scale, it's closer to people protesting the establishment of a large Southern Baptist church near a major site of KKK activity. Sounds just as ridiculous to me.

Great example Soror!

No one thinks all White Christians are Klansmen.

And even if White Christian Southerners are stereotyped as being racist, look at how specific the grouping had to get??
If they were protesting against immigrant Muslims from Saudia Arabia and Pakistan, it would still be wrong, but at least it would show that people understood the issue.

I agree with Newt Gingrich and Bill O'Reilly that this was a political move to make a point that will be interpreted in different ways. Not wanting a mosque at Ground Zero isn't about stereotyping or hating Muslims. It's a question of why does it have to be THERE? Why there?

I also agree with Gingrich that perhaps an interfaith facility could be built at Ground Zero that contains a mosque, synagogue, and church so that Muslims, Jews, and Christians can show unity in their worship.

No.

How will this help people understand Islam and Muslims?

Then why is this a news story?

The mosque (which is more of a community center) isn't a new project. They've been working on this since before 9/11. They own the property.

Asking them to "have consideration" and to move elsewhere both disregards the fact that their community suffered in 9/11 just like the rest of NYC and the country. And, it comes down to Why NOT build it there? I mean, not only did they not have anything to do with the terrorist attacks, but they're not even the same sect of Islam, they don't have anything like the same beliefs. And all of this insinuates that they do.

Because people are stupid and reactionary. Not to mention that some think that Muslims are "THEY" and not part of the WE THE PEOPLE."

Did I miss this in one of the articles?


Muslim citizens are "we the people" as far as I'm concerned but news agencies from various sources have been very selective in the details for this story.

You know the answer to that. ;) There's so much misunderstanding surrounding this whole topic. The proposed building will house a fitness center, swimming pool, meeting rooms, cultural center, culinary school, library, etc. all of which are open to the entire community.

It's going to be a modern thirteen-story center. The "mosque" is only a part of it. Also, it's not AT ground zero. It's blocks away. There's currently a Christian church closer to ground zero than this building will be.

The mosque that is AT ground zero has been there for 30 years and is not affiliated with the Islamic center we're discussing.

ETA: If you haven't seen this article, I recommend giving it a look: http://www.forward.com/articles/128347/

What the building consists of is extremely unimportant to me. Jewish centers in many areas hold the same things and most of them are open to the community (some with a minimal fee for some of the faciliites), but that doesn't minimize the fact that it's a Jewish center. I also never forget that the YMCA and YWCA are Christian-based. :) That's very apparent regardless of whether the entire community can use the facilities. It's also no surprise when the entire community, in some religiously and racially/ethnicity heterogenous areas, does NOT use the facilities.

So? LOL. Christianity remains the dominant religion in America.

Anyway, I've gone back to not giving a shit about this topic since there's a mosque at ground zero that has been there for 30 years.

I don't know about the ones posted here, but it's been all over CNN.
Referenced here
http://www.masjidmanhattan.com/

As for it's specific location being closer, I don't know the city well.

However it's also relevant that the building that they'll be tearing down, though once a store, is currently... a mosque.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/ny...sque.html?_r=1

They just want to build a community center out of it while retaining the prayer space. They describe it like a YMCA and with a pool among other facilities i can't think they're that wrong.




I've caught some CNN during the day and they've been decent, but this is why I prefer the internet for sources.

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2010/...ro-mosque.html
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2010/...ro-mosque.html

But it cannot legally be privileged under the law. Not even if it makes some people feel uncomfortable.