Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Rick Lazio Demands Andrew Cuomo Investigate Ground Zero Mosque

By Julie Shapiro | July 7, 2010 4:37pm | Updated on July 7, 2010 6:21pm
Rick Lazio, who is running for governor, stood alongside firefighter Tim Brown and 9/11 family member Debra Burlingame to call for an investigation of the Cordoba House's finances.
Rick Lazio, who is running for governor, stood alongside firefighter Tim Brown and 9/11 family member Debra Burlingame to call for an investigation of the Cordoba House's finances.
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/Julie Shapiro

By Julie Shapiro

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

LOWER MANHATTAN — Gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio is calling on his opponent, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, to investigate a non-profit group's plans to build a 13-story mosque and community center near Ground Zero.

Lazio, the Republican nominee for governor, wrote a letter to Cuomo, the Democratic nominee, demanding answers on the finances of the Cordoba Initiative, the group that plans to build the complex on Park Place.

“This is an issue of public safety,” Lazio said at a press conference Wednesday morning, claiming that mosques were used as extremist recruitment centers around the world.

Lazio criticized Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, chairman of the Cordoba Initiative, for not disclosing the nonprofit’s funding sources and for reportedly saying shortly after 9/11 that US Middle East policies played a role in the attacks.

The former Burlington Coat Factory building on Park Place, where Imam Rauf wants to build a 13-story mosque and community center.
The former Burlington Coat Factory building on Park Place, where Imam Rauf wants to build a 13-story mosque and community center.
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/Julie Shapiro

“To suggest that America had iit coming on 9/11 is outrageous,” Lazio said. “At best, he said, Rauf is being "insensitive," and at worst, "he is sympathetic with people who would mean us great harm.”

Standing alongside Lazio Wednesday morning were firefighter Tim Brown, 48, a first responder on 9/11, and Debra Burlingame, 56, whose brother was the pilot on the plane that hit the Pentagon. Both criticized the mosque plans.

Spokespersons for Cuomo and the Cordoba Initiative did not respond to requests for comment.

Meanwhile, the public approvals process for the mosque is inching forward.

Community Board 1’s Landmarks Committee will vote tonight on whether the 152-year-old building at 45-47 Park Place, which Rauf plans to tear down to build the center, should be landmarked.

The board’s vote is advisory, and the city Landmarks Preservation Commission, whose members are appointed by the mayor, will have the final say. The LPC is holding a hearing on the building next week.

CB1’s Landmarks Committee will meet Wed., July 7 at 6 p.m. in 49-51 Chambers Street, room 509. The Landmarks Preservation Commission will meet Tues., July 13 at 2 p.m. at 904 Lexington Ave. at East 68th Street, seventh floor.