By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
LOWER MANHATTAN — Permit or no permit, the massive protest of the World Trade Center mosque will go forward on June 6, organizers said.
The group Stop Islamization of America initially planned the rally for Zuccotti Park, a privately owned public space across the street from the Ground Zero site.
However, Brookfield Properties, the owner of Zuccotti Park, does not allow political protests there and revoked Stop Islamization of America’s permit once the nature of the event became clear, a source told DNAinfo.
“This will not stand,” said Pamela Geller, executive director of SIOA, in a blog post last Friday. “There must be a public outcry. Freedom of assembly is guaranteed under the Constitution.”
Rather than cancel the protest, Geller is urging demonstrators to gather just outside of Zuccotti Park, at the corner of Church and Liberty streets, and picket on the sidewalks and in the streets at noon on June 6.
The protest could attract hundreds of people. More than 500 people have said via Facebook that they would attend.
Demonstrators are not allowed to obstruct public streets or city sidewalks without a permit. An NYPD spokeswoman referred questions about the permit to the mayor’s office, which did not immediately comment Monday. Last week, a police spokeswoman said the department had not issued a permit for the protest in Zuccotti Park.
Brookfield Properties did not immediately respond for requests to comment Monday. Last week, a Brookfield spokeswoman said the protest would not happen in the park.
Geller said she sees the proposed 13-story mosque and community center, called Cordoba House, as "an insult" to those who were killed on 9/11. The Cordoba House would replace the former Burlington Coat Factory building two blocks north of the World Trade Center site. The center still has to clear approvals and fundraising hurdles and would not open for at least another few years.
Commenters on Geller’s blog, AtlasShrugs.com, were not dissuaded by the revocation of the permit last week and vowed to protest nonetheless.
“To hell with them,” wrote a blogger named Natasha. “Civil disobedience!”
