The construction of the mosque near Ground Zero has overcome the last obstacle

Former World Trade Center

New York - The controversial plan to build an Islamic cultural center and mosque near the site where the World Trade Center stood until the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, has overcome its last hurdle. The City Landmarks Preservation Commission today unanimously rejected granting landmark status to the building that the new $100 million (nearly two billion crowns) construction will replace. Opponents of the plan have seemingly lost their last hope that the project will not be realized.
    The construction of a reportedly thirteen-story center called Cordoba House, which would include a prayer space, is being pursued by the organization Cordoba Initiative at the so-called Ground Zero. According to its website, the organization seeks to improve relations between the Muslim world and the West. Their intention was already approved in May by the representatives of the city district where the mosque and center are to be located. Among the supporters of the construction is also New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
    However, the plan has many opponents, including relatives of the victims of the attack; critics consider the establishment of an Islamic center near the site where radical Islamists killed nearly 3,000 people to be insensitive and offensive. Today's decision by the preservation commission was accompanied by shouts from the audience of "Shame!" and "Disgrace!". Bloomberg, however, stated that succumbing to these public sentiments would be a victory for the terrorists.
    The construction of the Islamic center could begin as early as this year and is expected to take three years. Its supporters argue that it will be a welcome bridge between cultures. According to Sharif El-Gamal, head of the project's developer SoHo Properties, the center represents "the American dream that many others share." "We are Americans - Muslim Americans," he told The New York Times.