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King Abdullah May Move ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ to St. Vincent’s Site, Report Says

By DNAinfo Staff on December 19, 2010 10:55am  | Updated on December 20, 2010 5:58am

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah (middle) is reportedly looking into a plan to move the controversial
Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah (middle) is reportedly looking into a plan to move the controversial "Ground Zero Mosque" to the site of the now-closed Saint Vincent's Hospital.
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DNAinfo/Olivia Scheck

By Olivia Scheck

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MANHATTAN — Saudi billionaire King Abdullah is reportedly floating a plan to relocate the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque” to the site of the shuttered St. Vincent’s hospital, the New York Post reported.

The paper claims that Manhattan lawyer Dudley Gaffin has been looking into the possibility on behalf of the Saudi Arabian king, who recently underwent back surgery at New York Presbyterian Hospital.

The plan would be to reopen many of the hospital departments that were closed last April and build a mosque/Islamic cultural center at a former nursing facility on West 12th Street and Seventh Avenue, according to the Post.

An unidentified Greenwich Village community leader told the Post that King Abdullah thought the plan would be a good PR move since it would restore the beloved hospital and move the controversial mosque away from Ground Zero.

But backers of the mosque project — as well as a health care official involved in St. Vincent's sale — told the Daily News they know nothing about King Abdullah's plan.

Of course, the St. Vincent’s site is itself rich with 9/11 symbolism, as it was the transport location for injured survivors of the attack. Family members of missing victims gathered outside the hospital in the days following September 11th to post photos of loved ones believed to have been inside the towers.

The Post was unable to confirm the report with King Abdullah or the Bloomberg administration at the time of publication.