Bethpage mosque hopes to reopen for worship by October

Officials at a Bethpage mosque shut by the town of Oyster Bay over building-code violations hope to have the building in compliance and open again for worshipers by October, an attorney for the mosque said.

A hearing Monday on the summons that Masjid al-Baqi received from the town for electrical, plumbing and other building-code violations was adjourned until Oct. 4 at the request of the mosque.

Steven Morelli, a Garden City attorney representing the mosque, said he asked for the adjournment to buy time to get the building up to code and properly permitted. Meanwhile, the building remains closed and congregants are observing the Muslim holy month of Ramadan elsewhere.

Morelli said he was hopeful that the town and the mosque would come to an agreement soon - and indicated the possibility of a future lawsuit if they don't.

"In my opinion, this thing will be long over by Oct. 4," Morelli said. "And if they're not back in there praying by Oct. 4, we're going to be in other courts seeking to enforce their rights. We'll do whatever it takes to make sure the Constitution is upheld in the town of Oyster Bay."

However, Town Supervisor John Venditto said the town's issues with the mosque relate to violations of the town's building code, not the Constitution.

"This is about compliance, it's not about punishment," Venditto said.

The town inspected the mosque in July after receiving letters and phone calls from about 100 residents who were protesting a proposal for a second, unrelated mosque at a former Jewish community center in Bethpage.

Some of those residents had requested that the town examine Masjid al-Baqi as well, which has been at its location in a former restaurant on Central Avenue since 1999. The town responded by sending a building inspector to the mosque, who Venditto said found "severe" plumbing and electrical problems and a gas leak. The town issued a summons to the mosque on July 29 and said it ordered the building closed then. Mosque officials maintain that the town allowed them to operate up until the start of Ramadan, which began last Tuesday night.

Venditto said the mosque got "caught in the crossfire" of some residents' concerns over the proposed second mosque in Bethpage, as well as the plans for a mosque near Ground Zero in Manhattan.

"There is that backdrop, but the bottom line remains that complaints were made - valid complaints that we're obligated to look into," Venditto said. "If a complaint was made against any other religious institution, it would get the same scrutiny."