Imam defends mosque near ground zero before board

After a raucous meeting with residents, 9/11 victims' families and various religious groups, the Lower Manhattan Community Board voted late last night to support the opening of an Islamic mosque at ground zero.

The vote came after three hours of public statements at a Lower Manhattan theater in support and against the mosque, which will be built on Park Place just two blocks from where two planes flew into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

About 200 people attended the Community Board 1 meeting, where emotions ran high. Supporters of the mosque included Iman Feisal Abdul Rauf, who has led the effort to bring the mosque to the area.

The project has the support of elected officials and Jewish religious leaders. The community board's vote, while not necessary for the mosque and center to move forward, is viewed as important in gaining residents' backing.

Before the vote was taken and amid heckling from the audience, Rauf, said he would not back down from his plan.

"We are part of the community. We have been here - I have been here for 27 years and it is our right. We don't need permission from anyone," Rauf said before the meeting, in one of the first interviews he has granted since the controversy erupted.

C. Lee Hanson, 77, of eastern Connecticut, whose son died on Flight 175, one of the two planes to hit the Twin Towers, spoke at the meeting, saying, "If you are against it, they're calling you a bigot. I'm not a bigot. I'm opposed to the mosque because it's in poor taste."

Rosemary Cain, of Massapequa, sat with a photo of her son George, a FDNY firefighter who died on 9/11. "I'm not against a mosque. It's the location which has caused so much heartache. Why here?" she said.

But Kevin Madigan, who ministers to many 9/11 families and is a pastor at St. Peter's Church, across from ground zero, said he supported the project. "I'm for it. It's a mainline Islam group. And this is about working together," he said.

In the interview, Rauf said his own congregation was affected by 9/11. "We had 200 people who bled and died on 9/11. We gave water to firefighters; doctors from the community volunteered to be medics. We are part of the 9/11 family," said Rauf, reiterating his plans to put a memorial inside the Islamic center with the names of 9/11 victims.

The imam's congregation will have to raise $105 million to open the 13-story Islamic center, where it is expected prayer services will attract about 2,000 worshipers. The center will also have a swimming pool, a 500-seat auditorium for cultural events and lecture forums for interfaith religious leaders. The center will be open to everyone, he said.

Rauf said the mosque will not open on the anniversary of 9/11, and that it will take between 18 months and three years before the money is raised to open the center at the old Burlington Coat Factory building on Park Place, which was damaged on 9/11. Rauf said the building will either be demolished, or renovated depending on a pending landmark status application.