Mosque set to be built at Ground Zero after developers clear final hurdle

Controversial: Plans for a mosque near Ground Zero took a major step forward after a commission refused to grant the 18th century building landmark status


A city commission has paved the way for an Islamic community centre and mosque to be built on the site of the former World Trade Center in New York.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously not to give a building at the site of the September 11 terrorist attacks landmark status, arguing that 152-year-old building blocks were not special or distinctive enough.

They also said that other buildings from the era were better examples of the building's style.

Opponents to the mosque have argued allowing it near the September 11 terror attacks site is disrespectful to the people killed


National and New York politicians, as well as the Anti-Defamation League, have come out in recent weeks against plans for the mosque, saying it disrespects the memory of those killed in the 2001 attacks.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who also chairs the foundation building the Sept. 11 memorial, has defended plans for the mosque.

Protesters applauded and shouted 'shame' as commission chairman Robert B. Tierney called for the vote.

Others held up signs, including one which read: 'Don't glorify murders of 3,000. No 9/11 victory mosque.'

People hoping to give the building landmark status had argued that it warranted the mark because it was struck by debris from the aircraft during the attacks.
But commissioner Christopher Moore said that the debris hit a number of buildings.

He said: 'One cannot designate hundreds of buildings on that criteria alone. We do not landmark the sky.'

The mosque would be part of an Islamic community centre to be operated by a group called the Cordoba Initiative, which says it will be a space for moderate Muslim voices.

Oz Sultan, the program coordinator for the proposed centre, said last week that the building has been changed too much over the years to qualify as a landmark.

'I think a lot of the negativity we're getting is coming from people who are politically grandstanding,' Mr Sultan said. 'We're completely open and transparent.'

The Reverend Robert Chase, founding director of an interfaith group called Intersections, supported the project and called it 'a really positive example of how we can move forward from 9/11'.

Daisy Khan, executive director of the American Society for Muslim Advancement, told The Wall Street Journal that the centre's board will include members of other religions and explore including an interfaith chapel.

'We want to repair the breach and be at the front and center to start the healing,' said Mrs Khan, a partner in the building and the wife of the cleric leading the effort.

But the Anti-Defamation League's national director, Abraham Foxman, said her proposals failed to address the crux of opponents' criticism that erecting the mosque near Ground Zero is insensitive to 9/11 victims' families.

The Jewish organisation came out against the mosque last week, saying 'some legitimate questions have been raised' about the Cordoba Initiative's funding and possible ties with 'groups whose ideologies stand in contradiction to our shared values'.

The project also has drawn opposition from former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, among others.