The American Center for Law and Justice, which was founded by televangelist M. G. "Pat" Robertson, filed suit with Timothy Brown, a former New York City fire fighter to overturn the decision last August of the Landmarks Preservation Commission not to designate the 1520-year-old building 45-47 Park Place not far from Ground Zero as an official city landmark.
The owner of the former Burlington Coat Factory building at that address wants to demolish the building and replace it with a community center and mosque, a proposal that became quite controversial.
The lawsuit filed in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan yesterday argued that the commission acted arbitrarily and was influenced by officials in the Bloomberg administration, according to an article in today's edition of The Wall Street Journal by Chris Herring.
"An attorney for Mr. Brown, Jack Lester, said his client should have standing to challenge the LPC's finding because he was a first responder at the World Trade Center on 9/11 and knew people who died there," the article said.
"Adam Leitman Bailey, a lawyer for the site, argued that Mr. Brown had no standing to make the challenge, because 45-47 Park Place is not the same as the World Trade Center: 'You can't see it from Ground Zero; you can't throw a football and hit it from Ground Zero."
Virginia Waters of the city's law department defended the commission's decision and said it was made unilaterally, the article said, adding that Justice Paul Feinman said he would decide in the coming weeks whether the case should go forward.
An article in today's edition of The New York Times by Colin Moynihan said that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg "has forcefully supported the right of the site's owner to build the center, known as Park51." The article said that Ms. Waters said that "the notion that the mayor had influenced the panel was 'a conspiracy theory made up of whole cloth.'"
The owner of the former Burlington Coat Factory building at that address wants to demolish the building and replace it with a community center and mosque, a proposal that became quite controversial.
The lawsuit filed in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan yesterday argued that the commission acted arbitrarily and was influenced by officials in the Bloomberg administration, according to an article in today's edition of The Wall Street Journal by Chris Herring.
"An attorney for Mr. Brown, Jack Lester, said his client should have standing to challenge the LPC's finding because he was a first responder at the World Trade Center on 9/11 and knew people who died there," the article said.
"Adam Leitman Bailey, a lawyer for the site, argued that Mr. Brown had no standing to make the challenge, because 45-47 Park Place is not the same as the World Trade Center: 'You can't see it from Ground Zero; you can't throw a football and hit it from Ground Zero."
Virginia Waters of the city's law department defended the commission's decision and said it was made unilaterally, the article said, adding that Justice Paul Feinman said he would decide in the coming weeks whether the case should go forward.
An article in today's edition of The New York Times by Colin Moynihan said that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg "has forcefully supported the right of the site's owner to build the center, known as Park51." The article said that Ms. Waters said that "the notion that the mayor had influenced the panel was 'a conspiracy theory made up of whole cloth.'"
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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