"Ground Zero" "mosque" not really at "Ground Zero"
Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2010 8:54 am
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To be clear, Cordoba House is "in the neighborhood" of Ground Zero, and this seems to have been a deliberate choice made by its developers. But to suggest that Cordoba House is "at" Ground Zero, as some reporting and opposition groups have, is either negligent or willfully misleading.
The World Trade Center campus, shown in purple in the map below, is quite large, roughly two-tenths of a mile by two-tenths of a mile across. Eleven different streets abut or intersect it, and there are numerous points of access by foot, by cars or taxi, or on public transportation networks.
Cordoba House, shown in a red outline on the map, would be on Park Place between West Broadway and Church Street. Park Place does not intersect Ground Zero; instead, it runs parallel to it, two blocks to its north.
It is unlikely that very many people commuting to the World Trade Center site would pass by Cordoba House -- walking on that particular stretch of Park Place would not be a natural route except in unusual circumstances. Nor, does it appear to me, would Cordoba House be visible from ground level anywhere at the World Trade Center complex. The Federal Office Building across from Vesey Street on Ground Zero's northern perimeter is sixteen stories high, as is the office building between Barclay Street and Park Place; they would presumably block the view of the more diminutive Cordoba House, which although somewhat architecturally daring does not contain minarets or other spire-like features that would give it greater prominence than an ordinary, 12-story building. Like dozens and dozens of other buildings, and several other places of worship near to Ground Zero, it would be quite well concealed among Lower Manhattan's dense street grid.
Interestingly, although the Quinnipiac poll showed a majority of New York City residents opposed to the project, a 46-36 plurality of Manhattanites were in favor of it.
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http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2010/08/ ... osque.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
There's pretty much no way that you're going to be able to see a 12-story building located two blocks behind a 16-story building that occupies the entire block, with another ~14-story building wedged in between. I also walked the entire northern permiter of the WTC site -- there's nowhere that you'd get even a passing glimpse of the mosque. And I walked the stretch of Park Place where Cordoba House would be located -- it's a fairly incoherent and downtrodden block that you'd have no particular reason to visit, unless you were going there specifically to see Cordoba House, nor is it one that you'd happen upon unintentionally. Could you see Cordoba House from a high floor on the north face of the Freedom Tower once it's built? I think that you could catch a glimpse of it -- along with most of the rest of Lower Manhattan -- if you strained yourself, although I'm not even certain about this. It certainly would not be very prominent and would look pretty much like an ordinary office building.
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http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-j ... ren-t-here" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
To be clear, Cordoba House is "in the neighborhood" of Ground Zero, and this seems to have been a deliberate choice made by its developers. But to suggest that Cordoba House is "at" Ground Zero, as some reporting and opposition groups have, is either negligent or willfully misleading.
The World Trade Center campus, shown in purple in the map below, is quite large, roughly two-tenths of a mile by two-tenths of a mile across. Eleven different streets abut or intersect it, and there are numerous points of access by foot, by cars or taxi, or on public transportation networks.
Cordoba House, shown in a red outline on the map, would be on Park Place between West Broadway and Church Street. Park Place does not intersect Ground Zero; instead, it runs parallel to it, two blocks to its north.
It is unlikely that very many people commuting to the World Trade Center site would pass by Cordoba House -- walking on that particular stretch of Park Place would not be a natural route except in unusual circumstances. Nor, does it appear to me, would Cordoba House be visible from ground level anywhere at the World Trade Center complex. The Federal Office Building across from Vesey Street on Ground Zero's northern perimeter is sixteen stories high, as is the office building between Barclay Street and Park Place; they would presumably block the view of the more diminutive Cordoba House, which although somewhat architecturally daring does not contain minarets or other spire-like features that would give it greater prominence than an ordinary, 12-story building. Like dozens and dozens of other buildings, and several other places of worship near to Ground Zero, it would be quite well concealed among Lower Manhattan's dense street grid.
Interestingly, although the Quinnipiac poll showed a majority of New York City residents opposed to the project, a 46-36 plurality of Manhattanites were in favor of it.
_______________________
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2010/08/ ... osque.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
There's pretty much no way that you're going to be able to see a 12-story building located two blocks behind a 16-story building that occupies the entire block, with another ~14-story building wedged in between. I also walked the entire northern permiter of the WTC site -- there's nowhere that you'd get even a passing glimpse of the mosque. And I walked the stretch of Park Place where Cordoba House would be located -- it's a fairly incoherent and downtrodden block that you'd have no particular reason to visit, unless you were going there specifically to see Cordoba House, nor is it one that you'd happen upon unintentionally. Could you see Cordoba House from a high floor on the north face of the Freedom Tower once it's built? I think that you could catch a glimpse of it -- along with most of the rest of Lower Manhattan -- if you strained yourself, although I'm not even certain about this. It certainly would not be very prominent and would look pretty much like an ordinary office building.
______________________
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-j ... ren-t-here" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
