Developer Scales Back Plans for Muslim Center Near Ground Zero

Lets get something straight.  This Islamic community center, museum, and sanctuary center for prayer services is a Mosque, plain and simple.  All mosques are also community centers and prayer sanctuaries.  In other words, building will have all the attributes of a mosque.  So what we have here is mere obscuration. 

This scheme, no matter how famous the architect, no matter what it is called is still a mosque aimed at claiming another bit of real estate as Muslim territory.  Under Islamic tradition, any ground used as a mosque will always be Islamic. 

FROM NYTIMES.COM:

Developer Scales Back Plans for Muslim Center Near Ground Zero

A museum with a prayer sanctuary and community space would replace two buildings on Park Place in Lower Manhattan.

Hiroko Masuike / The New York Times

By SHARON OTTERMAN
April 29, 2014

The developer whose proposal to build a Muslim community center and mosque near the World Trade Center failed amid a national controversy three years ago said Tuesday that he now plans to construct a museum devoted to Islam in the same location.

Sharif El-Gamal, the developer, said through a spokesman that instead of a $100 million, 15-story community center and prayer space, he now planned a smaller, three-story museum “dedicated to exploring the faith of Islam and its arts and culture.” The building would also include a sanctuary for prayer services and community programs.

To make the plan more attractive to neighbors, he said in a statement, he had commissioned a French architect, Jean Nouvel, winner of the 2008 Pritzker Prize, to design the building at 45-51 Park Place, about two blocks from the former World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, and had included plans for a public green space.

“This is a more tailored approach, both physically and programmatically,” said Hank Sheinkopf, a spokesman for Mr. El-Gamal. “It will prove to be an important addition to the neighborhood and to New York City’s arts and cultural community.”

Article continues HERE.