A Landmarks Commission hearing, and much more - Jihad Watch

A Landmarks Commission hearing, and much more - Jihad Watch: "Perhaps predictably, the Landmarks Commission hearing today to consider landmark status for 45 Park Place, the proposed site of the Islamic supremacist mega-mosque overlooking Ground Zero, was about much more than just whether the building at 45 Park Place merited landmark status or not. It quickly became a public forum on Islam, Muslims in America, and the appropriateness of a huge mosque at Ground Zero.

The moderator of the hearing, Robert Tierney, explained at the outset that this was a hearing to give people a forum to speak on whether 45 Park Place should be designated a landmark. He read from the relevant law, which stipulated that a property had to have special architectural or historical value to be designated a landmark. Then an aide read a summary of the building's history and features, clearly situating the Commission hearing as a consideration of the question of whether the Renaissance Italian palazzo-style features of 45 Park Place warranted landmark status. Tierney explained that no decision would be made today, but that those who had signed up to speak would be heard, and that others who didn't get to speak could submit statements to the Commission by mail, email or fax by July 20. (I am on a train now and the connection is spotty, so I am having trouble finding that address, but will post it as soon as I can get to it.)

Tierney announced that Shelly Friedman, the counsel for the owner of the property (i.e., the group behind the mega-mosque), would speak first, followed by some people he had lined up to make presentations. Friedman noted that although the property had been designated for consideration as a landmark in 1989, the owner hadn't understood that when he bought the property. That's why, Friedman said, they had asked that a hearing be put on the calendar and landmark status considered and rejected. He asserted that the Commission had considered 45 Park Place for landmark status many times since 1989 as part of various historical districts, but that it was never ultimately included in any of them. He said that the building shared many architectural features with other buildings in the area, and thus was not unique.