New Jersey City Sues Mosque Imam

JERSEY CITY, N.J., Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Union City, N.J., sued the imam planning the controversial Islamic center in New York, saying he is a "terrible landlord" to his tenants there.

The lawsuit filed Tuesday in Hudson County Superior Court is unrelated to the dispute over the so-called Ground Zero mosque, a proposed cultural, sports and religious center two blocks from the World Trade Center site, The Star-Ledger of Newark reported.

Union City officials say that Feisal Abdul Rauf ignored citations for violations of housing codes in two buildings for years, including 12 violations of fire codes handed out a year before a fire.

"He's a terrible landlord who's unresponsive to the residents who live in his building," said Mark Albiez, a city spokesman. "City officials and inspectors have reached out to him to express the urgency in correcting problems in his buildings, and it's unfortunate that it's gotten to this point, but it's our responsibility to insure that residents receive the care that is needed."

The city is seeking to put the two buildings into receivership, using rents from tenants to make repairs. The larger building has been empty since the fire in 2008.

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Muslim Center Plans Going As Scheduled

NEW YORK, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- The imam of the Farah mosque in New York said Tuesday "we are proceeding" with plans for Cordoba House near Ground Zero despite "the furor" surrounding it.

In an op-ed article published by The New York Times, Feisal Abdul Rauf, the chairman of the Cordoba Initiative, offered his first public comments on the controversy surrounding the project, also called Park51. He has been out of the United States for two months, speaking about religious tolerance and cooperation, and said in the newspaper article that he and "nearly everyone" he met had "been awed by how inflamed and emotional the issue of the proposed community center has become."

"The level of attention reflects the degree to which people care about the very American values under debate: recognition of the rights of others, tolerance and freedom of worship," Rauf wrote.

"We are proceeding with the community center, Cordoba House. More important, we are doing so with the support of the downtown community, government at all levels and leaders from across the religious spectrum, who will be our partners. I am convinced that it is the right thing to do for many reasons."

Rauf said the community center "will amplify the multifaith approach that the Cordoba Initiative has deployed in concrete ways for years.""Our initiative is intended to cultivate understanding among all religions and cultures," he said.

Rauf said the initative's "broader mission" is to "strengthen relations between the Western and Muslim worlds and to help counter radical ideology" and he said it was essential to confront polarizing issues rather than avoid them.

He said he is "very sensitive to the feelings" of survivors of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack that took almost 3,000 lives and destroyed the World Trade Center twin towers.

"We will accordingly seek the support of those families, and the support of our vibrant neighborhood, as we consider the ultimate plans for the community center," Rauf said. "Our objective has always been to make this a center for unification and healing."

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