As debate rages as to whether a controversial mosque should be built two blocks away from Ground Zero, Muslim worshippers are already holding prayer services inside the proposed building site.
Yesterday, dozens of the faithful sat facing east on the green- and mustard-colored rug inside the 152-year-old former Burlington Coat Factory building at 45-51 Park Place.
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf and his wife, Daisy Khan, plan to build a $100 million mosque and Islamic community center there.
Men were situated toward the front of the interior, with women relegated to the rear. A spillover crowd sat on an overhead catwalk.
Some of the worshippers came after having been turned away from the frequently overcrowded, single-room Masjid al-Farah, a mosque 12 blocks from Ground Zero on West Broadway. Rauf once led prayer gatherings there as well.
Services at the Park Place building are held four times a day, between 1 p.m. and 10 p.m.
Among those attending was developer and building owner Sharif El-Gamal.
Outside on the sidewalk, protesters and supporters divided by metal barriers held signs and shouted at one another as police officers kept an eye on them.
The building has even become a tourist site, drawing gawkers from around the country and abroad who are interested in seeing first hand what the controversy is all about.
The Post reported earlier this month that the prayer services were being held despite the building not having a new city certificate of occupancy.
The religious gatherings have been taking place since the building was purchased in May 2009 by the real-estate firm SoHo Properties for $4.85 million. The building’s certificate of occupancy expired in 1987 and was only for a retail store.
The Buildings Department has said that the owners are in compliance and that they received temporary permits for a place of assembly, allowing worship.