By Yepoka Yeebo
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN — Gov. David Paterson and Archbishop Timothy Dolan met on Tuesday afternoon at the Governor's Midtown Manhattan office to discuss the continuing saga surrounding the mosque near Ground Zero.
Despite earlier statements from both figures that the proposed site of the mosque should be moved farther from the former site of the World Trade Center, Paterson said that it was not his place to say if they should move.
"The reality is that they don't have to," Paterson said at a press conference.
The governor's spokeswoman Maggie McKeon denied Paterson had changed his stance. She said the governor had always advocated for a discussion between the mosque's developers and leaders.
The meeting was billed as a way for the two leaders to help quell the controversy, but if the governor and the archbishop came to any conclusions, Paterson didn't give any details.
"The archbishop and I are a bit chagrinned and are feeling pained about the smoldering issue setting New Yorkers against each other," said Paterson.
"I find it heartwrenching," the governor added.
At the same press conference, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said that the developers should move the mosque.
“In the spirit of living with others, they should be cognizant of the feelings of others and try to find a location that doesn’t engender the deep feelings the currently exist about this site,” Silver said.
Silver pointed out, however, that technically the proposed site of the mosque isn't in his jurisdiction.
Silver's district technically ends at the Vesey Street boundary of Ground Zero. The proposed mosque site is two blocks north of that.
