NYC refudiates Palin.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

N35t0r
Rah qualified it by saying if even half of the reported 36% were truly agin it, that turns out to be 18%, or roughly 1 in 5.

[KrazyHorse]

As the only one here who will walk by this place every day and will likely be able to see it from his office chair, what a ****ing tempest in a teacup.

Nobody in Lower Manhattan gives a ****.

[Elok]

I'd assume not, in a place with as variegated a culture as NYC. I imagine a Manhattanite's first thought when "Islam" is mentioned goes something like, "oh, there was this awesome kebab place on 53rd and Broadway, what happened to it?"

Of course, for that very reason, Cordoba House is unlikely to have much impact. Your average New Yorker is already aware that there are plenty of Muslims out there who have no desire whatsoever to maneuver any vehicle into any building.

[Boris Godunov]

Even if half that 36% are truly against it and will be upset if it's built, that's almost 1-5 people. While I believe that they have the right to build there, it's probably in their best interest to let the heat blow over for awhile. If by forcing the issue now they're pissing off 1 in 5 locals, I think there are better ways to get others to look more positive towards your religion. Those 36% are idiots regardless.

Rah, 1/5 of Americans might very well believe Obama was born in Kenya and almost a third may think he's a Muslim;

When we get down to 1/4 or 1/5 of the population, I think it's safe to say that you probably will never appease certain nutty factions, so bowing and scraping to avoid offending them while the rest pretty much don't care is ridiculous and unproductive. It puts a them in a Catch-22 position: they want to build the center to promote outreach, but they can't build the center because some think there's not enough outreach.

The "heat" will blow over a few weeks after it's built. As KH said, people there don't really care, and the gadflies trumpeting this will have moved on to some other stupid thing that garners more media attention.

It's hard to win someone over when your actions show that you don't care what they think. (Even if it's wrong)

I fail to see how continuing to build the center means that the backers "don't care" what the opponents think. My guess is they do care (it's not like they've been unresponsive to complaints), but believe that it's ultimately going to be better to build the center and demonstrate through its existence that it's not the disaster that the more histrionic folks think it will be.

[rah]

Yeah, you're probably right. There are always X% of loons out there. But it all depends on the groups goals. Working for a market research company I guess I'm more sensitive to image and perception issues. Companies spend a lot of time and money making sure they are perceived positively by the general public and would go out of the way to avoid situations like this. But yeah, dealing with an issue like religion, there are always going to be those that you'll never sway.

[Boris Godunov]

Per previous thread

Red Eye

http://www.dailygut.com/?i=4696

While that would be nice to see in theory, in the real world, it wouldn't be feasible. There's barely any nightlife in that area, and it wouldn't be an appealing location for gays. Even if some naive business person were to establish such a bar, it'd probably go out of business in a matter of weeks. Expecting gays to truck down from Christopher Street/East Village/Chelsea to a solitary bar in the Financial District? Sure.

There are already mosques smack-dab in the middle of areas with high gay concentration in NYC, which just goes to show that Red Eye doesn't know what he's talking about. There was a mosque/Islamic center right on a stretch of Avenue A in the East Village that was home to a slew of gay bars I used to frequent. One of which was called The C*ck (autocensor on that word? Really?).

The Cordoba House will be right around the corner from some bars and restaurants that serve--GASP--alcohol. Maybe that should also be a clue that these aren't the type of Muslims to get upset about such things.

[Boris Godunov]

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Municipal Land-Use Hearing Update
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

[Jon Miller]

I have heard that in places in europe, homosexual communities and muslim communities are often shared.

JM

[germanos]

That's almost certainly BS

[KrazyHorse]

I'd assume not, in a place with as variegated a culture as NYC. I imagine a Manhattanite's first thought when "Islam" is mentioned goes something like, "oh, there was this awesome kebab place on 53rd and Broadway, what happened

Nobody from lower Manhattan should venture into the north country above Chelsea.

[Elok]

I was just naming a random location. I don't actually know much about the geography of Manhattan. Central Park is in the middle, obviously, with the Met next to it. Chinatown, Wall Street, and Ground Zero are somewhere down south. I'm pretty sure Broadway runs along the west side. That's about all I know.

[DaShi]

Nobody from lower Manhattan should venture into the north country above Chelsea.

Or vice versa.

[GePap]

http://www.salon.com/news/ground_zero_mosque/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2010/08/16/ground_zero_mosque_origins

great little timeline of the growth of this inane and insane controversy.

As for those wanting to visit this "hallowed ground", the Dakota Roadhouse next door has okay food, nothing special, a nice second floor space to hang out in, and mediocre beer selection.

Oh, and as likely the only poster who has posted on this thread that lived through the entire Giuliani mayoralty, he was a mediocre mayor who had the basic intelligence to continue his predecesor's policies that assited in lowering crime, chose some good police commissioners (except the last one - you know, the one convicted of a felony) and was far too belligerent for his own good. Bloomberg has been a much better manager, a decent mayor (better than Rudy) and obviously a better human being overall.

[Hauldren Collider]

Apparently someone hasn't looked at the unemployment numbers in a couple years...

Was gonna mention that but I saw your post. yeah, sorry gribbler, you're probably wrong.

By the way, posting jon stewart videos is highly correlated with being a tool. He's funny but he's not exactly insightful. Not saying you're a tool boris, just pointing out that stewart's a comedian and should be treated as such.

[Kuciwalker]

Choosing the username "Hauldren Collider" is highly correlated with being a tool.