Backers of a mosque near Ground Zero chalked up a victory last night after the local community board voted against landmarking the building now at the site.
During a raucous meeting, Community Board 1 voted 24-to-11, with two abstentions, to recommend that the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission deny historic designation for the building at 45-47 Park Place.
Landmark designation would block demolition to make way for the mosque.
The vote followed two hours of comments from the public, including some 9/11 family members who said a mosque near Ground Zero is an affront to the victims.
“This is not just a local issue,” said Stuart Kaufman of Great Neck, LI. “It was America that was attacked on 9/11.” Jeffrey LaFrancois, of Harlem, who supports the mosque, said, opposing it is “an egregious assault on American freedom.”
Earlier yesterday, a leader in the effort to build the mosque, Daisy Khan, said her group has received threatening phone calls and letters.