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The developers behind the proposed Ground Zero mosque have applied for about $5 million in federal grant money set aside for redeveloping downtown Manhattan after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to a new report. The application was submitted as a "community and cultural enhancement" grant, which is a program run by the Lower Manhattan Redevelopment Corp. Developer Sharif El-Gamal discussed the grant proposal in recent closed-door meetings, according to The Daily Beast. The revelation that the developers have asked for this grant could reignite outrage about the mosque's proposed location.

Presumed GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney came out Wednesday against the planned burning of the Quran by a Florida pastor, saying that doing so would endanger American troops. “Burning the Quran is wrong on every level,” the former Massachusetts governor said in a statement to POLITICO. “It puts troops in danger, and it violates a founding principle of our republic.” Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0910/41895.html#ixzz0yyeKLaDE

Soho Properties has paid some $5 million in cash to buy the Burlington Coat Factory building, a building that yields no income. They are paying rent to hold rights to the Con Ed building, which also yields no income. All of this in the midst of the worst commercial property slump in memory, in an area of New York with a very uncertain economic future. And these are not super-rich guys: Sharif el-Gamal lives in an Upper West Side apartment purchased in 2007 for $1 million. Click here to read what $1 million bought in Manhattan before the crash. You...

Mayor Bloomberg's popularity rating has dropped to its lowest level in five years, in part because of his ardent defense of a proposed mosque several blocks from Ground Zero, according to a poll released yesterday. New Yorkers' approval of their third-term mayor (pictured) dipped to 49 percent, down from 56 percent in April, as 53 percent of those surveyed said they disagree with his position on the mosque, according to the Marist survey. "The mosque is not doing him any good . . . He's certainly on the wrong side of public opinion on that in the city," said pollster...

A new poll finds that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s approval rating has dipped below 50 percent for the first time in five years. The Marist College survey was released Tuesday. It found that 49 percent of registered New York City voters think the billionaire mayor is doing either an excellent or good job. The poll said 33 percent rate him as doing a fair job, 16 percent said poor and 2 percent weren’t sure. The last time Marist asked this question, in April, 56 percent of voters rated him excellent or good.

State Department officials on Monday confirmed Feisal Abdul Rauf, the Imam of the so-called Ground Zero Mosque, will soon be going on a trip of the Middle East and the U.S. government will be picking up the tab. The planned construction of a mosque near Ground Zero in New York City has set off a contentious national debate over religious freedom in the U.S., drawing impassioned opposition from some families of 9/11 victims. Rauf has emerged as a controversial figure because of his refusal to acknowledge Hamas as a terrorist organization, which is how the U.S. government classifies the group....

She ran one of New York's biggest prostitution rings, with a client list that she claims included former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer. She served nearly four months in prison for her role in the Spitzer scandal but is now running for governor herself on a platform that includes legalizing prostitution, marijuana and same-sex marriage. But even for Kristin Davis, previously dubbed the "Manhattan Madam" by some in the news media, the proposed $100 million, 13-story Islamic cultural center and mosque near the site of the 9-11 attacks is too much. "I don't see it as religious freedom; I mean...

There are great things about America – one of them is the freedom of religion. However the freedom of religious expression is restricted in the USA. We are free to believe whatever we want, but since the Supreme Court 1879 (Reynolds vs. US) decision there are limits to expressing religious beliefs if those hurt others. Laws are made for the government of actions, and while they cannot interfere with mere religious belief and opinions, they may with practices. We are free to believe in Jesus , however in America we are not free to erect a cross on public...

An attempt to stop a plan for a mosque near New York's Ground Zero has failed after the site was denied landmark status. The scheme for a 13-story Islamic cultural centre and mosque several hundred feet away from the site of the Twin Towers has drawn criticism. Opponents had hoped the Landmarks Preservation Commission would protect the building. Some relatives of 9/11 victims are against the building of a mosque.

This went way under the radar three weeks ago, but Rudy Giuliani made what, as best as I can tell, were his first public comments about the planned mosque near Ground Zero on the Jeff Katz show on radio (someone will I'm sure correct me if I'm wrong). He takes a very hard line, including saying that "decent Muslims" will not be offended by the opposition because they want peace as much as others do. I had been struck by how non-visible Giuliani, who is generally known as the face of Ground Zero, had been on this issue. Here are...

This may have been posted from some other source and if so, I apologize. The mohammedans are building a mosque at that particular spot for a very good reason. The purpose is not to launch a jihad against the US nor is it to be a bomb magnet nor is it to rub anything in our faces. They have told us exactly why they are building that mosque there. How? Look at the name: Cordoba house. A little history for those who may be slightly history-impaired. Cordoba, a beautiful town in southern Spain, was home to a caliphate in the...

Mayor Bloomberg's latest defense of the Ground Zero mosque is passionate and detailed and, once again, com pletely unpersuasive. Worse, his recounting of old New York's history of religious intolerance comes off as a scurrilous attempt to tar mosque opponents with bigotry. Reflexively accusing dissenters of prejudice is a tired and discredited trick, one especially unbecoming for any mayor of New York on this issue. Calling the 9/11 attacks "an act of war" that left nearly 3,000 dead, including heroic first responders, Bloomberg declared, "We do not honor their lives by denying the very constitutional rights they died protecting." Hooey...

The Muslim community center to be built just blocks from the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan cleared its final hurdle on Tuesday and was approved for construction. As a pleasant surprise, New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission voted 9-0, denying historic protection for the building that currently occupies the site where developers plan to build the $100 million center, which will include a mosque. Though this news should hardly be noteworthy, it unfortunately is. Since its incipient stages in July 2009, when a Muslim-run real-estate development company purchased the damaged, vacant building and land where the new center...

Conservatives will appeal 'Ground Zero mosque' approvalAug. 04, 2010 By Alfredo Garcia, Religion News Service A conservative religious law firm plans to appeal a decision that grants a green light for the construction of an Islamic community center two blocks from Ground Zero. The Washington-based American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) opposes the construction of the Cordoba House in lower Manhattan because the building currently at the site “stands as an iconic part of the cultural and historical fabric of America.” The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission on Tuesday (Aug. 3) voted unanimously not to grant historic status...