Landmark Status Denial Paves Way For Ground Zero Mosque

Plans to build an Islamic center and Muslim prayer room near Ground Zero are steps closer to materializing after the last significant regulatory obstacle to their development was eliminated Tuesday.

By a unanimous vote, the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission turned down a proposal to grant protected status to two adjoining 19th century buildings that a Muslim group wants to transform into a community center. All nine of the commissioners said in the Tuesday morning hearing at Pace University that they did not find 45-47 Park Place to be historically, culturally or architecturally significant. Commissioner Frederick Bland laid out one reason for the assessment: "We do not know who designed the building, who the architect was."

The vote that essentially clears the way for the construction of the Islamic center did not sit well with about a half-dozen opponents of the measure who attended the public meeting in the Schimmel Theater, where journalists outnumbered spectators at least two-to-one.

"Shame on you! Shame on you! Shame on you!" one woman yelled at the commission as its members filed off the stage of the 700-seat theater. Andy Sullivan, who said he lost a family member on 9/11, yelled, "Apologize for this disgrace that has just transpired here!"

Afterward, in the theater's lobby, he told PIX 11 News that he still feels the commission could have acted in a way that would have prompted Islamic center organizers to build elsewhere. "You could do it without hurting people. This hurts everybody," he said.

Meanwhile, the organizers and planners of the facility showed gratitude, "As people who are dedicated to peace, tolererance and understanding amongst cultures, we are truly grateful to the Landmarks Commission," Daisy Khan told PIX 11 News. She is the wife of the imam, or leader, of the Islamic center. Their organization, which recently changed its name from the Cordoba Initiative to the Park51 Community, says there will be no mosque on the Park Place site. Instead, they say, one of the 13 storeys of the facility will be a dedicated prayer space. There will also be a pool, an auditorium, a restaurant and shops.

They also say that they intend for the facility to serve as a bridge to other religious and social communities. Park51 says the Islamic center is modeled after the 92nd Street Y, a Jewish community center on Manhattan's Upper East Side. They also say that the Islamic center's board of directors will be made up of Christians and Jews, as well as Muslims.

Also, landmarks commissioner Christopher Moore made this point about the Islamic center's location, as he voted down the proposal to preserve the buildings already there: "It can not be seen at all from Ground Zero."

In fact, there are two blocks of buildings that are more than six storeys tall separating the proposed Islamic center from the site of the twin towers and the World Trade Center Memorial that is under construction on the towers' footprints.

Despite Tuesday's green light, more obstacles remain, including fundraising for the $100 million project. Also, some conservative politicians are calling for an investigation into current and potential funding sources. GOP gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio is leading the charge. He attended the landmarks commission vote, and on his website is calling for people to sign a petition opposing the project.

Nonetheless, with Tuesday's vote, demolition of the buildings currently on the site can begin, and construction is expected to soon follow. The Islamic center in Lower Manhattan is now slated for completion in two years' time.