Daisy Khan and her husband, Iman Feisal Abdul Rauf, the backers of the mosque planned near Ground Zero, were reported by Samuel Goldsmith and Lore Croghan of the New York Daily News yesterday to have said that "no one had contracted her or her husband about moving the planned mosque."

A report by Brad Hamilton and Joseph Goldstein in the December 18, 2010 edition of The New York Post said an Manhattan attorney Dudley Gaffin is claiming King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia might want to buy shuttered St. Vincent's Medical Center in Greenwich Village and transfer the proposed Ground Zero mosque to a new Islamic cultural center he would build on a plot at the site, say sources who have heard Gaffin's pitch.

"The king, worth more than $20 billion, would also save the hospital, reopening most of the units that closed when St. Vincent's filed for bankruptcy on April 14, the sources said.

They say that Gaffin, who heads his own firm in lower Manhattan, is floating the idea to gauge what the reaction might be - and to ready a bid to rival the Rudin Organization, which is trying to snap up St. Vincent's in bankruptcy court with an eye on tearing down six hospital buildings for luxury housing," the article said.

"Gaffin said the mosque and cultural center," the article continued, "would likely be built in a space now occupied by a shuttered nursing facility on 12th Street, just east of Seventh Avenue. Sources said Gaffin claimed to have broached the topic with Mayor Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, but reps for both denied it. 'No one here has heard of this,' said Bloomberg spokesman Marc LaVorgna."

The article said that sources said that "Gaffin sought legal advice on the matter from former council member Herb Berman and revealed the plan to the Coalition for a New Village Hospital, a group of doctors and nurses trying to resurrect St. Vincent's."

"Reps for Abdullah, one of the world's wealthiest men, did not return calls seeking comment. The 87-year-old king is currently in town after recuperating from back surgery he had at New York-Presbyterian hospital on Dec. 3. Abdullah previously said he would not get involved with the Ground Zero mosque," the article said, adding that "Gaffin, a trial lawyer and senior partner in Gaffin & Mayo, did not respond to requests for comment."

Ms. Khan and her husband are affiliated with the planned construction of a $100 million Park Place prayer space and community center two blocks north of Ground Zero.

The Daily News article said that the iman said that he remains "committed to the idea of the creation of a multifaith community center in lower Manhattan."

"The mosque isn't moving from its proposed Park Place site, a source close to mosque developer Sharif el-Gamal said,' the article continued, adding that "a high-ranking health care official involved in the sale of St. Vincent's said no one on his side had heard a word about the Saudi royal's reported plan to reopen most of the bankrupt hospital and build the mosque there. 'It's not real,' he said."

The article said that John Gilbert of the Rudin Organization said that "The Rudin family is in negotiations with St. Vincent's to develop a solution that benefits creditors and the community, while ensuring the delivery of health care to the people of Greenwich Village."

A December 17, 2010 article by Matt Chaban at observer.com said that the previous day the "bankruptcy judge handling the case gave St. Vincent's the necessary approvals to bring" CB Richard Ellis "in as its broker and adviser," adding that "such approvals are standard procedure for bankruptcy proceedings, but it also shows that no deal with the Rudins has yet been reached."

A December 21, 2010 article in The New York Post by Amber Sutherland and Jeane MacIntosh said that the Saudi royal's

"purported plan to move the proposed Ground Zero mosque to shuttered St. Vincent's Hospital might spark a tug-of-war between downtown residents and their West Village neighbors."

Some TriBeCa residents Monday said they want the Park51 mosque project - and its state-of-the-art community center - to stay in their neighborhood near Ground Zero, the article said, but "some West Village residents were equally eager to have a mosque in their back yard - if it means the return of an occupant to St. Vincent's."