A judge has blocked Con Ed from evicting the controversial Park 51 community center from its Lower Manhattan buildings, after the utility retroactively raised the monthly rent to $47,437 and demanded $1.7 million in back rent. According to the New York Law Journal, Justice Richard Braun noted in his opinion that Park 51 "speculates as to whether defendant may be bowing to unspecified political pressure," referring to the fact that lots of people are upset that a mosque could be built so close to a sacred strip club. more ›

After the developer of the controversial Park51 Islamic community center admitted to making mistakes, and the building peacefully opened its doors for a photo exhibit last month, it appeared that the worst had passed for the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque." Now, Con Ed is threatening to evict Park51 from one of the structures its leasing from the utility if they don't pay $1.7 million in back rent they say the group owed on October 4. more ›

With little sign of the hubbub that surrounded it last year, the Park51 Islamic community center (un-lovingly referred to as the "Ground Zero Mosque") opened its doors to the public last night for a photo exhibit. And right before that the site's developer, Sharif El-Gamal, used the event to publicly admit mistakes made in the building's short history: “We made incredible mistakes,” he told the AP. “The biggest mistake we made was not to include 9/11 families. We didn’t understand that we had a responsibility to discuss our private project with family members that lost loved ones.” more ›

Pamela Geller is not a racist. Sure, there may be some who take the message of her group Stop! The Islamization Of America, to mean "Muslims rape babies," but by and large Geller believes that everyone who agrees with her should be treated equal. After submitting a subway ad to the MTA's media company over a week ago, Geller still hasn't heard back. "I will sue. It's a free speech issue," Geller tells the Daily News. Why block this one? She's run ads before, what's so terrible about this—oh. more ›

Those protesting corporate greed on Wall Street today should be careful about what they say to their comrades: the NYPD placed at least one undercover officer in a demonstration supporting Park 51 held on September 11, 2010. The Daily News learned of "UC 242's" participation in the rally during a discussion that Manhattan prosecutors had in court about a conflict of interest posed in the "synagogue terrorists" trial. UC 242 received a summons for not showing NYPD his badge, which he did "to maintain his cover…to build solidarity with protestors," a lawyer for the defense team says. more ›

Pamela Geller's SHARIA Hotline is burning up right now: the organizers of Park 51 AKA "The Ground Zero Victory Mosque" are opening a photo exhibition by artist Danny Goldfield in the former Burlington Coat Factory on Wednesday. What kind of photos? Muslims celebrating 9/11? Puppies getting beaten with Korans? Bald eagles being tortured by crescent moons? From Park 51's Kickstarter: "Danny is photographing a child from every country on earth currently living in New York City." more ›

Remember the "Ground Zero" mosque—the controversial community and prayer center that will probably never have enough money to be built a couple of blocks from the World Trade Center site? Don't think just because the project is financially stalled that it ain't gonna happen—the Christian Action Network is making sure Americans know that this is still a threat. The group, which states its mission as "protecting America's religious and moral heritage," is releasing a documentary called Sacrificed Survivors: The Untold Story of the Ground Zero Mega-Mosque. And they've rallied the relatives of 9/11 victims to the cause. more ›

We receive a lot of e-mail. Most of these missives are carefully read, discussed at length among the editors, and courteously replied to in a timely fashion—except for the ones that are so bizarre and irrelevant that we're simply afraid to engage the sender. Instead, we'll share them with you. Behold, the eccentric underbelly of the Gothamist inbox: more ›

A State Supreme Court judge has tossed a lawsuit filed by a former NYC firefighter who was trying to stop a mosque and community center from being constructed a couple of blocks from the site of the World Trade Center attacks. You may recall this mosque from last summer, when conservatives were going batshit crazy over it, holding ugly, xenophobic demonstrations and ranting on blogs about "Islamic supremacists who seek to desecrate the sacred ground of Ground Zero with a 15-story mega-mosque in a building destroyed in the 911 attacks." Oh, actually, that quote is from today. more ›

Feisal Abdul Rauf, the imam at the Park 51 community center, the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque," says that all of his efforts to get the center built might have ended up getting in the way of his ultimate mission: Closing the gap of understanding between the West and Islam. more ›

Despite needing $100 million to complete the project, organizers of the Ground Zero Mosque say they're only projected to raise $7.5 million in 2011. The Post reports that while Park51, which is still waiting for their tax-exempt status from the IRS, plans to raise $15 million in 2012, at this rate it will take a good decade before anyone can picket the actual site of the mosque (presumably after they support the local strip club). Guess that Burlington Coat Factory cash never came through. more ›

Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden sought to harm the US by "attempting to inflame race and class tensions in hopes of tearing down the country from the inside out," sources who have seen the evidence recovered from Bin Laden's compound have told ABC News. In addition to traditional terrorist attacks, Bin Laden wished to "create a divisiveness that would cause more damage than al Qaeda could ever do on their own." This included recruiting blacks in the US, "to capitalize on them to further the jihadi cause." more ›

After nearly a year of posturing and arguing, the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque" is inching closer and closer to losing the mosque part and becoming an "interfaith cultural center." But some of the controversies it inspired in the past are still being settled: the NJ Transit employee who burned a Koran on Sept. 11 at a protest of the proposed center, and was subsequently fired from his job, has won his lawsuit against the state, and will get his job back. more ›

The so-called "Ground Zero Mosque" might just say the hell with it and not be a mosque after all, one of the project's co-founders told reporters yesterday. Daisy Khan, the executive director of the American Society for Muslim Advancement, has, along with her husband Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, long been one of the public faces of the controversial project, which hasn't yet raised any money and is still basically just an inflammatory idea. Speaking at a luncheon yesterday, Khan revealed that she and her husband are contemplating, instead of a "mosque," an "interfaith cultural center," instead of the predominantly Islamic facility originally envisioned. more ›

The Park 51 project, better known erroneously to some as the Ground Zero Mosque, has had a controversial incubation period over the last eight months, as critics have protested it, Imams have come and gone, and funding has been hard to get. But despite all the roadblocks, the project is still moving forward allegedly. And now it seems it might have a strange next door neighbor: the Anne Frank Center. more ›

The developer who wants to build a Muslim community center and mosque in Lower Manhattan is said to be a long way off from the $100 million or so he's estimated to need to complete the project. But that's nothing a few lawsuits can't fix. Sharif El-Gamal and others have filed a $4.1 million lawsuit against Burlington Coat Factory, the former tenant at the location. more ›

The endless war over the controversial Park 51 Islamic community center and mosque planned for Lower Manhattan spilled into court yesterday, as Pat Robertson's American Center for Law and Justice—using former firefighter Timothy Brown as a prop—accused the Landmarks Preservation Commission of being Mayor Bloomberg's puppet. The plaintiffs say the LPC did the bidding of City Hall when it ruled that the 150-year-old building on Park Place didn't merit landmark status, but a lawyer for the city said that's just a bunch of tinfoil hat ALL CAPS 9/11 GRASSY KNOLL STUFF. more ›

Weeks after taking over as Imam at the controversial Islamic community center and mosque in Lower Manhattan, Sheik Abdallah Adhami has thrown in the taqiyah. Adhami said in a statement today, "It is important for me now to devote my time to the completion of my book which assists English readers in understanding and facilitating the language of the Quran. I wish the project leaders well." It's probably also important for the project’s developer to devote time to picking a new Imam who hasn't talked about homosexuality as a dysfunction caused by child abuse. more ›

Earlier this month, it was announced that the public face of the Park 51 project, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, was being replaced by Imam Abdallah Adhami as senior adviser of the project. It seems this move has only generated more controversy for the troubled project: more ›

Some New Yorkers are still working hard to halt a mosque and community center planned for lower Manhattan near the World Trade Center site. Obviously, this is a sensitive issue for 9/11 survivors and family members who lost loved ones that day, and perhaps no one has invested more money in fighting the mosque than one Robert Mercer, who spent $1 million on an ad campaign touting gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio's anti-mosque cred. Having spent so lavishly to spotlight this issue, we can assume Mercer is personally tortured by the very thought of Muslims praying near the place where other men who also happened to be Muslim killed thousands of people (including Muslims). more ›

Conservative advocacy group the American Center for Law and Justice had filed a lawsuit against the controversial "Ground Zero Mosque," but apparently being a "Center for Law" doesn't mean you know how to file a lawsuit. The suit may get thrown out on a technicality; the group named Sharif El-Gamal's company, Soho Properties, in the suit rather than legal owners 45 Park Place Partners LLC. ACLJ lawyer Brett Joshpe called the argument "specious," saying, "Sharif El-Gamal, everyone knows he is the owner of the project." Don't worry haters, they still have another lawsuit open against the city. more ›

The story of the "Ground Zero mosque," also known as the planned Islamic community center and mosque that isn't actually at Ground Zero, got a new wrinkle today. Park51, the organization behind the center, released word that Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, who was the public face for the center during last fall's political firestorm, is stepping down from his role (though he'll be staying on the board). Pratt graduate Imam Abdallah Adhami will be replacing Rauf as senior advisor. more ›

A scheduling note: Today's joint pro-Walmart, anti-mosque demonstration has been called off, because the snowstorm preemptively nixed a City Council Walmart hearing scheduled for today. (That hearing has been postponed to February 3rd, and all protesters who share a love for Walmart and a hate of the proposed Islamic community center near Ground Zero are expected to rally then.) And in other mosque news, firefighter Timothy Brown, who filed an anti-mosque lawsuit against the city in August, has taken legal action to block developers from doing any construction at the site. more ›

Remember the "Ground Zero" mosque? Yeah, we still have to listen to people rant about that in 2011. But at least the anti-mosque masses are trying to keep it fresh—their upcoming protest against the proposed Islamic community center planned for Lower Manhattan is also a pro-Walmart demonstration. Why not? It may seem like a bit of a stretch, but not if you're Pamela Geller and you know how to connect the dots that the lamestream media is too biased to point out. more ›

Critics of the Islamic community center and mosque proposed for lower Manhattan were outraged earlier this month when they learned that tween pop sensation Justin Bieber had weighed in on the mosque controversy, in an interview with, um, Tiger Beat. According to mosque opponents, Bieber told the influential foreign policy journal: "Muslims should be allowed to build a mosque anywhere they want. Coming from Canada, I’m not used to this level of intolerance, eh." And the "interview" didn't stop there. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg has made no secret of his support for the would-be "Ground Zero Mosque," a proposed Islamic community center for lower Manhattan that isn't actually at Ground Zero. But the dallies seem mildly shocked by the "revelation" that his administration was actively trying to help Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf make the Park 51 project a reality. Among the emails released yesterday include a drafted letter written by Community Affairs Commissioner Nazli Parvizi for Rauf's wife, Daisy Khan, to send to Community Board 1, which was voting on the project at the time. more ›

Are a few people showing support for building the "Ground Zero Mosque" in their neighborhoods enough to start a "tug-of-war"? Sure, why not? According to the Post, there could be a struggle between TriBeCa and the West Village for who gets the privilege of having the Park51 project built in their 'hood. Though Park51 reps have denied any plans to move the project to the old St. Vincent's building, a few West Village residents are hopeful that there's still a chance. more ›