By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
LOWER MANHATTAN — A conservative group that opposes the Park51 mosque and community center is seeking a court order to stop the project from moving forward.
The American Center for Law and Justice believes Mayor Michael Bloomberg illegally overstepped his bounds in advocating for the 13-story, $100 million center on Park Place.
As a result of an earlier lawsuit by the ACLJ, the city released a trove of e-mails last month showing how Bloomberg’s commissioners helped shepherd the Park51 project through a complex city approvals process.
The city Landmarks Preservation Commission voted last August not to block the mosque plans by landmarking 45-47 Park Place, a building that will be torn down so the Islamic center can rise.
Bloomberg’s advocacy created a "politically tainted process," said Brett Joshpe, counsel to the ACLJ. He hopes to force the city to reexamine landmarking the Park Place building.
Joshpe is also concerned that the city declined to release all the e-mails the ACLJ requested and has not formally responded to ACLJ’s original lawsuit.
To get answers and move the case forward, Joshpe filed a motion in New York State Supreme Court on Tuesday seeking an injunction prohibiting demolition or construction on the future mosque site, and also seeking a court order for the city to release the rest of its e-mails related to the project.
"If the building is demolished, our case is moot," Joshpe said. "It’s important for us to get into court to get some answers."
The American Center for Law and Justice filed the suit on behalf of firefighter Tim Brown, a 9/11 responder.
The city's law department told DNAinfo that the lawsuit had no merit.
"The Landmarks Commission acted properly. These allegations are simply an attempt to divert attention from the fact that the lawsuit is baseless," a spokeswoman for the Department wrote in an e-mail.
Park51 did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
