Area where landing gear was found. (NYPD)
An apparent piece of landing gear from a passenger jet used in the Sept. 11 attacks was found behind the site of the controversial Ground Zero mosque, police said.
The piece of gear was discovered Wednesday, wedged between the rear of 51 Park Place, the mosque site, and the building behind it, 50 Murray Street.
Police are treating the site as a crime scene. They will photograph the piece, and the Medical Examiner will check the area for human remains.
The aircraft part has a clearly visible Boeing identification number, police said.
Surveyors hired by the owner of 51 Park Place made the find when they were working on the property. They called 911 at about 11 a.m. to report what they believed was damaged machinery, cops said.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly viewed the site tonight, and said that while the department believes the part fell into the narrow passage way on Sept. 11, police are investigating the possibility it was placed at the scene sometime afterward.
“We are also looking at the possibility that it was lowered by a rope,” Kelly said. “We are not ruling it out… there’s a rope that is intertwined in the part itself.”
Adam Leitman Bailey, a lawyer for the developer of the controversial Muslim community center project, said he believed the part was placed at the scene by opponents of the plan in hope of renewing their court challenges.
“I think this is a prank, and there’s no way this all of a sudden showed up. It’s hard to believe they now have found evidence that wasn’t put there recently,” Bailey said.
But Sharif el-Gamal, the lead developer of the project, quickly distanced himself from Bailey’s remarks.
Hijackers flew two Boeing jets into the twin towers at the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11, 2001.