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NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg: I expect the community center and mosque will add to the
life and vitality of the neighborhood and the entire City.
Mosque community center to be built near 9/11 site in New York. The Cordoba Initiative,
which focuses on promoting multi-faith understanding, has received overwhelming approval from the
Lower Manhattan Community Board for its proposal to build a Cordoba House, or Muslim community
center, near the site of the former World Trade Center towers in New York City, USA.
Support has also come from US President Barack Obama, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg
as well as Jewish organizations, who have all highlighted religious tolerance as an
essential value, and religious freedom as a right protected by the US Constitution.
President Obama stated, “Our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakeable.
The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country and that they will
not be treated differently by their government is essential to who we are. The writ of the
Founders must endure.” Addressing the press, Mayor Bloomberg also said, “Their plan envisions
reaching beyond their walls and building an interfaith community. By doing so, it is my
hope that the mosque will help to bring our City even closer together …. Muslims are
as much a part of our City and our country as the people of any faith, and they are as
welcome to worship in Lower Manhattan as any other group.”
Many thanks, President Obama, Mayor Bloomberg, Manhattan Community Board and all others involved
for your support of communities built on values of tolerance and respect.
NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg: Political controversies come and go, but our values and our traditions
endure – and there is no neighborhood in this City that is off limits to God's love
and mercy.
Blessed be our world to uphold such principles in peaceful co-existence with brethren everywhere�