The controversial Islamic center proposed to be built near the site of the 9/11 terrorist attacks won a major victory today when a New York City board voted unanimously to allow the demolition of a building to make way for construction. New York landmark commission expected to reject proposal to designate building. The city's Landmarks Preservation Commission's vote rejected the landmarking of a 19th century building with its Italian Renaissance Palazzo style that most recently served as a Burlington Coat Factory. That designation would have prevented its demolition and foiled plans to build a 13-story Islamic community center that includes a prayer room.
Critics have called the proposed facility a mosque and said construction so close to the site of the World Trade Center where 3,000 people died in an attack by mililtant Muslims was insensitive and an insult.
"I've come to the conclusion 45-47 Park Place does not rise to the level of a city landmark," commission Chairman Robert Tierney said today.
Commission members were careful to consider only the building's historical significance and not become entrenched in the heated debate over the center's proximity to Ground Zero, a sore spot for many New Yorkers that has also drawn opposition from some politicans and the Anti-Defamation League, a prominent Jewish organization.
There were a mix of supporters and opponents in the audience as the commission voted.
One woman held signs reading, "Islam builds mosques at the sites of their conquests and victories" and "Don't glorify murders of 3000. No 9/11 victory mosque."
Supporters wore buttons bearing the slogan, "pro Israel pro peace."
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg didn't immediately comment on the ruling, but tweeted that he would later speak from the city's Roosevelt Island, which he called the "site of America's 1st religiously tolerant settlement."
The commission's vote was one of the first major hurdles for the proposed complex, called the Cordoba Initiative, which has been met with fierce resistance from many to its construction plans.
The center, which has been called everything from an insult to a "house of evil" by protestors, has already been through several approvals, including the a community financial district and an advisory board.
New Yorkers told ABCNews.com that the idea of a mosque is not the problem, but the Cordoba Initiatve is just too close to the city's most painful scar and has struck many as insensitive and cruel.
Robert Engel's office on Church Street, would look right into the proposed center. It's not a prospect he or many of his co-workers are looking forward to, he said.
"I don't think they should do it. It's too close," Engel said. "It's a slap in the face."
As Debate Rages, Another Nearby Mosque Has Operated Quietly for Years
While the Cordoba's plans have become a lightning rod for politicians from Buffalo to Alaska, a blink-and-you'll-miss-it mosque a few blocks away draws worshipers instead of critics.
The Web site of the Masjid Manhattan even includes a disclaimer that it is not affiliated with the Cordoba plans.
"Please be advised that we are by no means affiliated with any other organization trying to build anything new in the area of downtown Manhattan."
"Our members are city, state and federal employees, as well as professional employees of the financial area who come to our Masjid to perform their daily prayers," the statement continued. "Masjid Manhattan and its members condemn any type of terrorist acts."
For more than an hour Monday, men wearing everything from neatly pressed suits and corporate ID cards to jeans and T-shirts came to pray at Masjid Manhattan. Three women also quietly made their way in, slipping silently into the women's section separated by two thick curtains.
The mosque has operated in the neighborhood for years, moving in 2008 to its cramped basement space after their previous building was sold in 2008 and they were forced out.
Engel, 36, also said that he's never had any problem with Masjid Manhattan, often passing worshippers on his way to eat in the restaurant above their prayer space.
