WASHINGTON - (Business Wire) The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which represents a New York City firefighter who survived the 9-11 terrorist attacks, plans to amend its lawsuit filed recently against the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) to add additional parties and causes of action - as well as seeking an injunction to prevent the building from being demolished.
The lawsuit, which initially just named the LPC and was filed in New York State Supreme Court in New York on August 4th - the day after the LPC denied the proposed mosque site landmark status - will be amended to name the site’s owners, as well as the New York City Department of Buildings, Con Edison, and the New York State Public Service Commission.
"With every new question that surfaces, it is increasingly clear this mosque must not be built at this site," said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ. "Among them is the status of 49-51 Park Place, which, it has been recently revealed, is owned by public utility Con Edison, not the mosque developers, and represents half of the proposed development site. The revelation that a public utility owns part of the site raises a whole host of new legal questions and requires the involvement of a new public agency and possibly additional public hearings. That, coupled with the Landmarks Commission's procedural violations and deviations from administrative precedent, only strengthens our legal challenge. As we have said from the start, this site, where part of one of the 9-11 hijacked planes crashed through the roof of the building, is on sacred, hallowed ground. This is not the place to build a mosque."
The original petition charged the LPC with acting arbitrarily and capriciously and "contrary to decades of administrative precedent."
The ACLJ plans to file an amended petition and request for an injunction in the coming weeks focusing on the fact that the mosque developers do not own the entire proposed site and do not possess the legal right to proceed with demolition or construction. In addition to urging the court to put any demolition/construction on hold, the ACLJ will request that the New York State Public Service Commission, which has regulatory authority of any disposition of land owned by a public utility, conduct a required environmental review detailing the impact that this project would have on the neighborhood character and historical resources.
The ACLJ has also filed numerous Freedom of Information Law requests with local, state, and federal agencies and is specifically demanding production of the Con Edison lease, which had not been previously disclosed. The ACLJ is also seeking information about whether the owners are currently using the property unlawfully without a valid certificate of occupancy.
Sekulow added: "We continue to learn more about this project and will continue to gather the facts. It is crucial that our client, along with New Yorkers and the American people, get the full story about this project - something that has not occurred."
The ACLJ represents Tim Brown, a firefighter and first responder, who survived the Twin Towers’ collapse and lost nearly 100 friends.
The ACLJ also has heard from thousands of Americans who have signed on the Committee to Stop the Ground Zero Mosque.
The lawsuit is posted here: http://www.aclj.org/media/pdf/ACLJ_EXECUTED-PETITION_20100804.pdf
Led by Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow, the American Center for Law and Justice focuses on constitutional law and is based in Washington, D.C. The ACLJ is online at www.aclj.org.
The lawsuit, which initially just named the LPC and was filed in New York State Supreme Court in New York on August 4th - the day after the LPC denied the proposed mosque site landmark status - will be amended to name the site’s owners, as well as the New York City Department of Buildings, Con Edison, and the New York State Public Service Commission.
"With every new question that surfaces, it is increasingly clear this mosque must not be built at this site," said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ. "Among them is the status of 49-51 Park Place, which, it has been recently revealed, is owned by public utility Con Edison, not the mosque developers, and represents half of the proposed development site. The revelation that a public utility owns part of the site raises a whole host of new legal questions and requires the involvement of a new public agency and possibly additional public hearings. That, coupled with the Landmarks Commission's procedural violations and deviations from administrative precedent, only strengthens our legal challenge. As we have said from the start, this site, where part of one of the 9-11 hijacked planes crashed through the roof of the building, is on sacred, hallowed ground. This is not the place to build a mosque."
The original petition charged the LPC with acting arbitrarily and capriciously and "contrary to decades of administrative precedent."
The ACLJ plans to file an amended petition and request for an injunction in the coming weeks focusing on the fact that the mosque developers do not own the entire proposed site and do not possess the legal right to proceed with demolition or construction. In addition to urging the court to put any demolition/construction on hold, the ACLJ will request that the New York State Public Service Commission, which has regulatory authority of any disposition of land owned by a public utility, conduct a required environmental review detailing the impact that this project would have on the neighborhood character and historical resources.
The ACLJ has also filed numerous Freedom of Information Law requests with local, state, and federal agencies and is specifically demanding production of the Con Edison lease, which had not been previously disclosed. The ACLJ is also seeking information about whether the owners are currently using the property unlawfully without a valid certificate of occupancy.
Sekulow added: "We continue to learn more about this project and will continue to gather the facts. It is crucial that our client, along with New Yorkers and the American people, get the full story about this project - something that has not occurred."
The ACLJ represents Tim Brown, a firefighter and first responder, who survived the Twin Towers’ collapse and lost nearly 100 friends.
The ACLJ also has heard from thousands of Americans who have signed on the Committee to Stop the Ground Zero Mosque.
The lawsuit is posted here: http://www.aclj.org/media/pdf/ACLJ_EXECUTED-PETITION_20100804.pdf
Led by Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow, the American Center for Law and Justice focuses on constitutional law and is based in Washington, D.C. The ACLJ is online at www.aclj.org.
