Imman Rauf wants a mosque/ cultural center many stories high about 1/10th of a mile from Ground Zero.
Does it make sense to go forward with that huge Islamic mosque cultural project when Imam Rauf has 200 health violations elsewhere on a building for things such as bed bugs and moldy bathrooms? First take care of smaller issues before being intrusted with larger ones…. Read more.
Union City imam ordered to reimburse city $12,960 for cost of keeping off-duty cop at his building while fire alarm wasn’t working.
Friday, September 24, 2010
By JEAN-PIERRE MESTANZA
A state Superior Court judge ruled yesterday that the imam who is at the center of a controversial proposal to build a mosque and Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero must reimburse Union City for the salary of an off-duty police officer was on fire watch for nearly 10 days outside the building the Imam owns on Central Avenue.
The judge also ordered that the October rent money for the building be held in an escrow account until Oct. 19, which is the date that the city’s complaint against him will be heard in court again.
The delay is to allow time for the imam, Feisal Abdul Rauf, to make repairs on more than 200 fire and health code violations that Union City inspectors have found at the building.
“The goal here is to create a pool of money for either the property owner to use or the receiver to use,” said Judge Thomas Olivieri.
Rauf did not attend yesterday’s hearing.
His company, Sage Development, has until Oct. 9 to make all repairs – from eliminating bedbugs to fixing moldy bathrooms. The city will inspect again by Oct. 13.
The fire alarm system has been fixed, which is why the fire watch ended on Monday, officials said. But Rauf now has to pay the $12,960 the city spent on keeping a police officer outside the building on a 24-hour watch, according to the court ruling.
The city did additional inspections on Monday and found about 200 other health violations. It was not clear what the fine or punishment would be levied if those violations are not addressed.
The city is suing Rauf for failing to address more than 30 tenant complaints from 1996 to 2010.
Rauf’s attorney, Tomas Espinosa, said the timing of the lawsuit and hearings are suspicious since, according to him, all complaints and violations were addressed in 2007.
“There were no violations that were given notice until the problems with respect to the mosque in New York,” Espinosa said outside the courtroom. “What I believe is that it is clear that something attracted attention.”
Union City’s attorney, Christine Vanek, said he doubts that repairs will be made before the Oct. 9 deadline. “Based upon what they have submitted to date, we are not confident that that it is going to occur,” Vanek said
