LOWER MANHATTAN — Downtown residents aren’t ready to give up the Park51 mosque and community center, which Saudi billionaire King Abdullah reportedly wants to move up to Greenwich Village.
Several downtown residents said Monday that they are looking forward to Park51 bringing a pool, gym, theater and other amenities to the planned location on Park Place, two blocks north of the World Trade Center.
“We don’t want to lose it,” said Bill Love, a member of Community Board 1’s Financial District Committee. “It would be great for the neighborhood.”
King Abdullah reportedly wants to put the center in the shuttered St. Vincent’s Hospital campus, which he would reopen. Park51’s backers have denied that any such deal is in the works.
If the center moved, Ameena Meer, 46, a longtime TriBeCa resident and member of Park51 sponsor Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf’s congregation, said it would be a loss for the neighborhood below Canal Street.
Tags: Kind Abullah, mosque, muslim community center, park51, religious tolerance
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