Ground Zero mosque set to become Gotham’s most controversial green building

The controversial mosque that’s slated to replace an existing Italianate-style building at 45-51 Park Place just two blocks from Ground Zero could become the first LEED-certified mosque in the country according to Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, an adviser in the city’s office of long-term planning and sustainability and author of “Green Deen: What Islam Teaches about Protecting the Planet.” Originally dubbed the Cordoba House but now rebranded as Park51, the $100 million, 13-story glass and steel tower has found itself in the eye of a hurricane of controversy over the past few weeks, leading Mayor Bloomberg to publicly defend the project as representative of the very ideals which this country has struggled to defend in the aftermath of Sept. 11, according to an Aug. 13 GreenSource report.

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