The 'Ground-Zero' Mosque Location Wasn't First Choice

HopeTracker| New York Magazine spins a different tale of the now sensationalized attempts to build an Islamic Center in lower Manhattan. The notion that 37-year-old Sharif El-Gamal, the owner of the former Burlington Coat Factory at 45–51 Park Place, set his eyes on a spot “at Ground Zero” is not correct, according to writer Mark Jacobson.

“Listen,” said El-Gamal, “do you have any clue how the Manhattan real-estate market works, what is involved? People seem to think that we picked that building to make some kind of point. But that is simply insane. This is New York; no matter who you are, you just don’t choose a building, move in, and take over. Do you know how many places I looked at? I looked at Chambers Street. I looked at Vesey Street, Broadway, Greenwich Street, Warren Street, Murray Street. Maybe half a dozen more, I can’t even remember now. It was only after all that that Park Place came up. Even then, it was the most grueling negotiation of my life. So many times I told myself, Wow, this just isn’t worth it. One minute the deal was on, eight months later it was off. The whole thing almost drove me nuts.”

Update on Thu, August 26, 2010 by Anne

Through Islamic Center Debate, World Sees U.S. NYTimes