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9/11 Firefighter Sues to Block Work at "Ground Zero" Mosque
By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 12, 2011
Modified Jan 12, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 12, 2011
Modified Jan 12, 2011
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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.
Not that there's any work happening there anyway—at this point the mosque, which is expected to cost $100 million, is more of a mental construct, or a Rorschach inkblot in which opponents and supporters see whatever they choose to see. Some look at the murky, theoretical mosque and perceive the universal virtue of freedom of religion, others descry a mockery of everything their "real America" has come to represent: 9/11 and always low prices. Brown's motion, filed on his behalf by Pat Robertson's astroturf group the American Center for Law and Justice, also accuses Mayor Bloomberg of failing to respond “in a timely manner” to a public-records request.
A lawyer for the American Center for Law and Justice tells the Times, "With developers moving forward with their plans and the continued lack of response by the city, we’re seeking an injunction from the court to halt the destruction of any of the buildings at issue in the case." Brown is suing the Landmarks Preservation Commission for refusing to landmark the Lower Manhattan building that would be razed to build the Islamic community center; he is also suing Bloomberg and the Department of Buildings.
The property's developer says there have been no renovations or construction at the site, but in the spring he plans to open part of the first floor for public use as a "multicultural art exhibit."
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9/11
ground zero mosque
mosque
park51
walmart
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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