Nearly two years after negotiations abruptly ended over where a Greek Orthodox church destroyed on 9/11 may rebuild, legal action has begun against several agencies and officials involved in the Ground Zero land dispute.
Until talks broke off in early 2008, leaders from St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and Ground Zero developers had reached a preliminary agreement to rebuild on a larger piece of property at 130 Liberty Street, allowing the original 155 Cedar Street lot to be used for a vehicle security center.
Under the deal””either binding or tentative, depending on which side you ask””the church would also get $20 million towards its rebuilding costs, which include enhanced security requirements for the Ground Zero area.
It’s about time! Contrasting the way this church has been treated with the way Mayor Bloomberg and other members of the Liberal elites have gushed over the proposed Ground Zero Mosque has tested the limits of a lot of people’s tolerance. The church has every right to rebuild because it was destroyed by the events of 9/11. The GZM should find another site.
The church’s ordeal has been terrible and should have been resolved a long time ago, but it has nothing to do with Park 51 which purchased its property free and clear and is a lot further away from ground zero.
Also, Park 51 is neither at Ground Zero nor is it a Mosque, so let’s try to avoid the using inflammatory and inaccurate names.
Cordoba, it’s not just a leather, to those acquainted with history. But that could be asking a bit much, I gather.
Of course they can blow off the Christians, especially the small Orthodox congregation. Naboth’s vineyard redux.
RE: “Also, Park 51 is neither at Ground Zero nor is it a Mosque, so let’s try to avoid the using inflammatory and inaccurate names.”
Right — that’s why when conservatives articulate their concerns they need to name their actual concern — which is the mosque that is a part of Park 51, rather than use the broader blurrier name that the p.r. folks emphasized in order to obscure the actual problem. ; > )
The concern of the conservatives is not, of course, “Park 51” [sic] — so it would be a lie for conservatives to denounce it. It’s the mosque.
But it *was* clever of the pr folks to come up with that broader appellation. Rather like renaming a church a clever non-profit name, touting their community services and basketball court, and then being outraged when people continued to use the word “church” in their denunciations.
“What do you mean? Springtime Meadows offers services to the elderly through our transportation services, services to the homeless through our home-building efforts, and of course volunteer organization to manage the vast quantity of volunteers we have. St. Swithins is of course only a small part of the entire Glorious Complex we like to call Springtime Meadows.”
Brilliant!
O’Hare Airport has a chapel, that doesn’t make it a church.
Sarah (No.4): I don’t think this is an issue that breaks neatly between liberals and conservatives. There seems to be a broad range of views within the common understanding of what those labels mean when applied to today’s american political scene.