Building Hope, Building Community, Building Beauty: Park51 in 2011

Even though we New Yorkers shiver with the cold and complain if our streets remain unplowed, a New Year begins; offering at least a symbol of hope. And along with hope, many of us may perceive new opportunities; a time to build. Work begins on the Park51 Community Project. For the moment, angry voices fade […]

Park51: Why Here?

Open on a scene of fist-pumping, screaming book-burners. Cut to a scene of screaming, sign-waving anti-Muslim protestors reciting the Lord’s Prayer at a community board meeting or a pastor burning a Quran a day. As someone who’s been involved with the Park51 project from the beginning, I feel like I’m watching the same movie. (Deepak […]

Park51 and Patriotism

The Park51 Community Center, an Islamic center modeled after the Jewish Community Center on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and the 92nd Street Y, is, in the words of Terry Rockefeller, “what makes America what we are.” Terry lost a sister on 9/11. At an annual Ramadan dinner hosted by the White House, President Obama defended the […]