By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
LOWER MANHATTAN — Carl Paladino signed a pledge condemning the Park51 mosque and community center Wednesday afternoon while standing just outside the World Trade Center site.
Paladino said that if he beats Andrew Cuomo in the race for governor next Tuesday, he will do everything in his power to block the $100 million center on Park Place.
"We will not allow the erection of a monument to the triumph and conquest over America,” Paladino said. "Where there’s a will, there’s a way — and trust me, we’ll find it and we’ll stop it."
He then signed the 9/11 Hard Hat Pledge, promising to do nothing to advance the Islamic center.
Andy Sullivan, a construction worker who was across the street from the World Trade Center when the first plane hit on 9/11, started the pledge several months ago.
Sullivan, 44, a Queens resident, said he has collected more than 30,000 signatures from around the country, including many construction workers and suppliers who have promised not to help build Park51.
At Wednesday’s event in front of 7 World Trade Center, Paladino said his stance on the mosque was an indication of how he would govern New York if elected.
"I will stand up where others won’t," Paladino said. "I will speak my mind — not in a politically correct way, but in the way it should be spoken."
Asked about Wednesday’s Quinnipiac poll showing that Cuomo is ahead by 22 points, Paladino scoffed.
"Don’t talk to me about polls," Paladino said. "The poll on Nov. 2 is the one that counts."
