By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — The organizers of the controversial Ground Zero mosque said they're moving ahead with their plans, despite claims that they'd agreed to meet with Gov. David Paterson to discuss moving the site.
"We're moving ahead with current plans," Park51 posted on its Twitter feed Tuesday afternoon.
Republican Congressman Peter King sparked a war of back and forth claims throughout the day Tuesday after he said that Paterson and the mosque organizers had scheduled a meeting to discuss the possibility of relocating the center from its planned site two blocks from Ground Zero.
Kevin Fogarty, a spokesman for King, said that Paterson telephoned King Tuesday morning after the congressman made an appearance on the John Gambling show endorsing Paterson's suggestion that the mosque, now named Park51, be moved to a different site.
"The governor called the congressman this morning and indicated to him that he plans to meet with the leaders of the mosque later this week to discuss the possibility of moving it to an alternate site," Fogarty said.
But the governor's deputy press secretary Maggie McKeon said that no meeting had been scheduled yet.
"We are working with the developers on a staff level but there have not been any formal discussions between the Governor, the Imam or the developer," she wrote in an e-mail. "However, we expect to have a meeting scheduled in the near future."
Organizers at Park51, who did not return several phone calls, also denied the meeting.
"To the best of our knowledge, a meeting has not been scheduled," the mosque said in a statement. "We appreciate the Governor's interest as we continue to have conversations with many officials."
Last week, Paterson said he hoped to have a discussion with the group about the "tremendous feelings of anger and frustration” ignited by the mosque.
“What I wanted to do was to have a conversation about how other people were feeling, not if it’s right or wrong,” he said.
On its Twitter feed, Park51 seemed more open Tuesday to talking about their plans for the development and taking questions from followers.
"For the past week, we've focused on trying to respond to attacks and detractors of our project. what's become clear is - they won't listen," the mosque tweeted.
"Starting today, we're going to begin addressing questions regarding park51. We're open to any sensible discussion."
The organizers also tweeted that they are open to organizing a rally for supporters to come together.
"We're beginning outreach. Several Jewish organizations had a rally recently - we'd be open to help in planning one ^_^," they said.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Monday that the backers of the mosque project had decided to back down and move the site.
But Sharif El-Gamal, the developer of the project, immediately dismissed the claims.
"There is absolutely no factual basis from the report from Haaretz," El-Gamal said through a spokesman. "We don’t know where they got the information from."
