The city Landmarks Preservation Commission moved too fast in making a decision, underappreciated the building’s historic value and “allowed the intended use of the building and political considerations to taint the deliberative process,’’ lawyer Brett Joshpe wrote in papers filed in a Manhattan state court. The Washington, D.C.-based group represents a firefighter who responded to and survived the attack at the World Trade Center.
City attorneys are confident the landmarks group adhered to legal standards and procedures, Law Department spokeswoman Kate O’Brien Ahlers said. A spokesman for the planned Islamic center, Oz Sultan, declined to comment on the lawsuit.
The mosque has become a national political controversy, pitting several influential Republicans and the nation’s most prominent Jewish civil rights group against Mayor Michael Bloomberg and others.
The group behind the $100 million project, the Cordoba Initiative, describes it as a Muslim-themed community center. Early plans call not only for prayer space but for a swimming pool, culinary school, art studios, and other features.
Developers envision it as a hub for interfaith interaction, as well as a place for Muslims to bridge some of their faith’s own schisms.
“We want to create a model that shows the world that you can develop moderate Muslim communities,’’ Sultan said yesterday. “We would admonish people to, at least, give us a fair shake.’’
Opponents, including some Sept. 11 victims’ relatives, see the prospect of a mosque so near the destroyed trade center as an insult to the memory of the nearly 3,000 people killed by Islamic terrorists in the attacks. Shouts of “shame on you!’’ erupted from the audience after the city panel voted Tuesday to deny landmark protection to the existing building, saying the 152-year-old structure was not distinctive enough.
Big-name Republicans including former Alaska governor Sarah Palin and former House speaker Newt Gingrich have criticized the plan, as has the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights group known for advocating religious freedom.
Former US representative Rick Lazio, a Republican running for governor of New York, has raised questions about the Cordoba Initiative’s imam, Feisal Abdul Rauf.
