The NYTimes reports the Landmarks Commission voted 9-0 today to allow the building of an Islamic center to go forward near ground zero, rejecting a bid to block the development by having the site named a historical landmark.
Sharif El-Gamal, chief executive of SoHo Properties, the developer of the project, praised the commission’s decision. He said the center represented “an American dream which so many others share.”
“We are Americans — Muslim Americans,” he said. “We are businessmen, businesswomen, lawyers, doctors, restaurant workers, cabdrivers, and professionals of every walk of life, represented by the demographic and tapestry of Manhattan.”
