The developer behind a controversial plan to build a mosque near Ground Zero has applied for millions in federal funding to help construct Islamic community center Park51.
Park51 has applied for a Lower Manhattan Development Corporation grant. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation has some $17 million to distribute from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development; the money is meant to help rebuild Lower Manhattan after 9/11.
Park51 is a community center, say supporters, that will provide hundreds of construction jobs.
But New Yorkers, even those who support the mosque, are strongly opposed to the idea of using any taxpayer money to support a center with religious ties. “There are too many other more important projects that we should be worried about,” said Louise Jenkins, 50.
