"Ground Zero" Mosque Faces Another Surprise Hurdle

It never ends! Over the weekend the Post realized that the location of the proposed Islamic community center and mosque on Park Place is not fully owned by the group that intends to build it. According to the Post, Soho Properties told officials that it owns the entire parcel, but they actually only own half; 45-47 Park Place. Con Edison owns the other half, at 49-51 Park Place. "We never heard anything about Con Ed whatsoever," Julie Menin, the chairwoman of Community Board 1, which passed a May resolution supporting the mosque, tells the tabloid.

Sharif El-Gamal, the head of Soho Properties, bought the 45-47 Park Place half of the building for $4.8 million, and last year paid an extra $700,000 to take over the lease with Con Ed for the building next door. That lease expires in 2071, but Con Ed is now doing an appraisal to determine the property value. It's estimated to cost between $10 million to $20 million, and any sale will have to go before the state's Public Service Commission [PSC], where it could possibly face a vote by a five-member board controlled by Gov. Paterson.

Paterson supports the Islamic center, but his spokesperson promises he won't get involved. "We are following our legal obligations under the lease," says a Con Ed spokesperson. "We will not allow other considerations to enter into this transaction." And it's unclear if the commission will in fact vote on it. "As of today, we are not sure if this issue will even come before the commission for a determination," says James Denn at the PSC. But if it does, and Rick Lazio is governor, he's promising to put the kibosh on the mosque:

"As governor I will appoint commissioners... who, like me, oppose this group's plan to build a mosque at Ground Zero—and I encourage New Yorkers to call the Public Service commissioners and tell them the same," Lazio said. The commission can reject a sale if it could impact the utility's capacity to deliver services, but Soho Properties says they can build the mosque even if they're renting, not owning.

And in case you missed the front-page article in yesterday's Times about mosque phobia gripping the nation, here's our favorite part. "As a mother and a grandmother, I worry," Diana Serafin, an unemployed grandmother living 60 miles outside San Diego, said. "I learned that in 20 years with the rate of the birth population, we will be overtaken by Islam, and their goal is to get people in Congress and the Supreme Court to see that Shariah is implemented. My children and grandchildren will have to live under that. I do believe everybody has a right to freedom of religion. But Islam is not about a religion. It’s a political government, and it’s 100 percent against our Constitution."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on August 9, 2010 3:17 PM

Comments [rss]

cucarachita

Just because a bunch of people vote on something, doesn't make it constitutional. To wit: Prop 8. The bigots think that just because they were numerous enough to vote it through, it should be law. But no, even if the whole country voted on it, it's unconstitutional, and it would have been overturned. And it would be the same for Shariah law. So don't get your knickers in a knot, Islamophobes. The Christians are worried about Islamists taking over government because they're busy trying to take it over themselves, aren't they! I'm more worried about the proselytizing Christians who are still trying to impose their religion on my uterus right now. I'm not interested in ANY religion taking over the government. Back off, religion zombies.

snickerdoodle

More good news!

"Germany Shuts Mosque Used By 9/11 Hijackers"

"I learned that their goal is to get people in Congress and the Supreme Court to see that Shariah is implemented. My children and grandchildren will have to live under that. I do believe everybody has a right to freedom of religion. But Islam is not about a religion. It’s a political government, and it’s 100 percent against our Constitution."

She is 100% correct. Thank goodness this city has sensible, intelligent people who can see the truth and aren't brainwashed like the anti-US/pro-terrorist Gothamist chavs.

EddieFatoush

...and before you start calling me a racist and other names, just know I am a first generation arab born and raised in New York. I love my heritage, but am able to admit when they are wrong and acting against the interests of the United States.

EddieFatoush

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Mischief+Manhattan/3370303/story.html

As per two muslim scholars, the whole thing is intended "to be a deliberate provocation".

Looking at the facts, I'd have to agree. The city has PLENTY of mosques and places to put them.. why here? why now? why open on that date?

Its all to spit and laugh in our face.

Sparafucil

"Plenty of mosques"? Then why can't I find a single one on Google maps in the Financial District? Yet there are scores of churches and synagogues in that area.

snickerdoodle

Absolutely. Terrorist-recruiting has been slow lately, so they so deliberately try to provoke the US in ways like this so that they can recruit more losers to blow themselves up. It makes you wonder just how "peaceful" the iman for this Ground Zero mosque really is. Methinks he has terrorist connections, like the majority of them do.

Såkandulæredet

When is it supposed to open?

matty

Will there be a harem in this mosque? If so consider me a believer.

jibbly

As an aside, I finally learned that your avatar is of a blobfish!

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/08/10/science/20100810angier-3.html

soxinthecity

The sad part is that all the scare mongering is going to work out very well for the Republicans this November. If they stick to Muslim, Mexican, and Gay bashing they will probably end up with with White House and both houses of congress in 2012.

jt10000

Well said Paulie and bleeckerite.

Nice piece in the New Yorker about this and the scare-monger playing on bigotry.

snickerdoodle

Who's the bigot, exactly? 9/11 was the ultimate hate crime.

cucarachita

So, what are you gonna do, punish the entire Islamic faith for those bigots who committed a crime? Bigotry is just that. Hating a whole group of people because of your prejudices caused (or sometimes not even actively caused by) by one portion of it.

For that matter, remember the Crusades? The Spanish Inquisition? Christians have their own history of crimes against humanity while they gained dominance over the world. It's just human nature to commit such crimes against humanity in the name of your dubious convictions about miraculous individuals/deities at the center of them.

paulie

If only this much scrutiny and energy went into making our city better, and not being the most thorough racists possible...

Polite New Yorker

I was on my way to the Burlington Coat Factory to buy an irregular coat.

...and that's when the C.H.U.D.s got me.

JacqueMehoff

I want my pool.

I don't think Ground Zero wants Ground Zero there. it's really a sad looking block.

bleeckerite

Women like Diana Serafin sometimes make me think that some DESERVE sharia law.

jles

This is a complete non-story.

Who is this a surprise to? Julie Menin? There's absolutely zero chance this was a surprise to people intimately involved with the deal. This happens for all deals of this type, and they can still build even if they're renting, as Soho Properties said. I don't think it really matters if this was a surprise to Julie.

NEEDLESSLY RE-CHURN THE DEBATE MEDIA!

nicemarmot

God, people are stupid. Islam, Christianity and Judaism are all at their core extremely similar (or more accurately, Christianity is based on Judaism, and Islam is based on Christianity and Judaism), and their extremists are nearly identical. For every militant Muslim who wants to implement Shariah, there's a fundie Christian who wants to make their specific form of Christianity the world religion and force everyone to not sin by making sinning illegal. (Except themselves, the fundies can sin as much as they want, it's everyone else who has to behave.) And there's also a fundamentalist Jew who hates all non-Jews and runs around asking people with dark hair if they're Jewish so they can proselytize you into joining their cult. If you say no, they refuse to say another word to you because of course, you're a dirty gentile. Just because violence is less the current style of Judaism and Christianity doesn't mean they weren't violent in the past - they were.

Personally, I think we should lock all the fundamentalists of every stripe in a small room together with a lot of weapons and see what happens. I mean, God will take care of the righteous, won't he?

Kevin Bracken

Wow, it really does never end. I was foolish enough to believe I may stop hearing about the mosque that is supposed to be built somewhere sort of close to Ground Zero, but wrong I was. I would convert to Islam to make this story go away.