By Olivia Scheck
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Nearly half of New York City voters believe that the developers of the Park51 mosque and community center should be prohibited from building it in its current location, two blocks from Ground Zero, a Quinnipiac University poll released Tuesday found.
Given the statement, "Muslims should not be allowed to build the mosque near Ground Zero," 49 percent of New York City voters and 53 percent of New York State voters agreed, according to the study.
Paradoxically, a slightly greater majority – 55 percent of New York City voters and 54 percent of New York State voters – also agreed that "because of American freedom of religion, Muslims have the right to build the mosque near Ground Zero."
"The heated, sometimes angry, debate over the proposal to build a mosque two blocks from Ground Zero has New York State voters twisted in knots, with some of them taking contradictory positions depending on how the question is asked," said Quinnipiac University Polling Institute director, Maurice Carroll, commented in a statement.
At a press conference Monday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he stands by his decision to support the mosque, regardless of public opinion.
"That’s up to the majority if New Yorkers," he said when asked about the poll. "That’s the nice thing about the First Amendment. Everybody has a right to say what they want to say."
"The government shouldn't be the in business of telling people who they pray to, where they pray, what they pray, what they say, that's the most important thing," he added.
Another of the survey's results suggested good news for Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio.
According to the poll, 71 percent of New York State voters believe that Attorney General and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Cuomo should "investigate the financing of the mosque" – the same percentage that believe Park51 developers should voluntarily change locations out of respect for the families of 9/11 victims.
Lazio demanded that Cuomo, his electoral opponent, investigate how the mosque was being financed in a letter last July.
But Bloomberg said the calls are misguided.
"I think it's a terrible precedent," he said. "You don't want them investigating donations to religious organizations and there's no reason for the government to do so."
Earlier this month, he added that people advocating for it "ought to be ashamed of themselves."
As for the allegations that the mosque's developer owes tens of thousands in back-taxes on the site, Bloomberg said they will be treated "like everybody else."
"If they owe money they should pay it, if they don’t they don’t," he said.
