By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
LOWER MANHATTAN — The city Landmarks Preservation Commission will likely clear the way Tuesday for a 13-story mosque and community center to rise near Ground Zero.
The commission is expected to vote unanimously against landmarking the historic building at 45-47 Park Place that the mosque’s builders plan to tear down, the Daily News reported Monday.
Opponents of the project have called on the city to landmark the building as a way of stopping the $100 million center, called Park51.
But the city Landmarks Commission has never expressed much interest in landmarking 45-47 Park Place.
Preservationists first advocated for the city to protect the152-year-old building back in the 1980s, and the commission held a hearing on the building in 1989. Since then, the commission has taken no action, essentially allowing the building to sit in limbo.
The commission’s 11 members are appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has voiced strong support for the Park51 center.
Community Board 1 voted last month that 45-47 Park Place was not worth landmarking, and several local preservation groups stayed silent on the issue.
The Landmarks Commission will meet at 9:30 a.m. Aug. 3 at the Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts at Pace University. The entrance is located on Spruce Street near Gold Street.
