Victory in Sheepshead Bay: City Halts Illegal Construction on Mega-Mosque on Quiet Residential Street

Why here?

Kudos to the Bay People. Earlier today I posted on the flagrant Islamic supremacist violation of work orders and ordinances on a small residential street in Sheepshead Bay, in obvious contempt for rule of law. The good people of Voorhies Avenue have taken to protesting every day in front of the wall obscuring the illegal construction of a Muslim Brotherhood mega-mosque on the quiet, tree-lined block.

Early this morning I went to Brooklyn and covered this morning's protest here.

The buildings department and city offficials have turned a blind eye to this gross violation of the law. On this quiet street the illegal construction of a mega-mosque goes up at warp speed, despite violation after violation. The Bay People are fighting these gross violations legally and through the system and getting nowhere, while the Islamic supremacists, in a jaw-dropping disregard of the law, are rushing the construction of this mega-mosque. 

We exposed their collusion and corruption, and early this evening the city halted illegal construction of the Muslim Brotherhood MAS mosque. Notice that the local media calls the mosque an "Islamic Cultural Center," taking their cues from the deceivers behind the Ground Zero mosque:

The Department of Buildings has confirmed that inspectors visited the site of the Islamic Cultural Center (2812 Voorhies Avenue) today, and ordered all workers to cease construction immediately for violations of their partial Stop Work Order.

Upon inspection, the department found excavation work being performed that violated an existing Stop Work Order on the elevator pit. As a result, the agency is in the process of issuing violations for non-compliant conditions.

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The partial Stop Work Order has been in effect since January 14 after rescinding a full Stop Work Order in place since January 6. The SWO’s were a result of complaints from opponents to the construction of the Islamic Cultural Center.(here)

The NY Post article is biased, but the bottom line is that the illegal construction has been halted, for now:

The city halted construction of the controversial Sheeps- head Bay mosque and cultural center on Tuesday thanks to the constant needling of the project’s main opponent.

Members of he anti-mosque group Bay People — which was created to stop the construction of the house of worship on Voorhies Avenue between E. 28th and E. 29th streets — have been protesting outside the site for the last few days and have repeatedly sent complaints to the city’s Department of Buildings stating that the work at the site was being done illegally.

Responding to the complaints, inspectors came to the site on Feb. 1 and found a crew inside an elevator pit that was rendered off limits by a Jan. 3 decree, because it was deemed too close to the adjoining property.

“The Department found excavation work being performed that violated an existing stop-work order,” said city Department of Buildings spokeswoman Jennifer Gilbert. “As a result, the Department immediately stopped the work and is in the process of issuing violations for non-compliant conditions.”

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Some neighbors said the construction crew working on the mosque had been flaunting the rules since the first shovel went into the ground.

“[The construction workers] play games,” explained Valary Bounitch. “They work here all day, but stop right before the inspectors come.”

The city’s Department of Buildings website notes that “fines are due” for violating the partial stop-work order, but did not indicate just how much mosque builder Allowey Ahmed will have to fork over. A call to Ahmed for comment was not returned.

Not a week has gone by without a complaint being filed with the city about the mosque. Most of them have come from neighbors or Bay People members.

[..]

The deluge of complaints — 24 in total, 11 of which have been filed this year — prompted a nasty back and forth between Bay People spokesman Alex Tenenbaum and the city’s Department of Buildings community liaison Kenneth Lazar, in which Tenenbaum accused the city of not investigating the group’s complaints.

“Your accusation that the Department of Buildings is ignoring your complaints is erroneous,” Lazar fired back. “Inspectors have been to the location numerous times over the past few weeks. Most of the detailed complaints generated have been found without merit.”

Receiving no satisfaction from the city, the Bay People pledged to hold daily protests at the construction site.

“Residents of Sheepshead Bay have no choice but try to ensure compliance with zoning/building laws themselves!” the Bay People said in an e-mail sent to supporters on Monday, promising “peaceful protests” on the sidewalk from 8 am to 4 pm every weekday “until the [city] will follow their own rules and procedures.”

UPDATE: Here's the latest from the Bay People:

Yesterday, February 1, 2011 Department of Buildings "DOB" issued a FULL Stop Work Order and asked all workers to leave the construction site immediately. DOB issued the following statement: "Upon inspection, the Department found excavation work being performed that violated an existing Stop Work Order.  As a result, the Department immediately stopped the work and is in the process of issuing violations for non-compliant conditions.”

Local Channel 11 News was around to capture it all on camera here.

Inspectors finally showed to the construction site after Bay People sent a number of letters to DOB officials and politicians calling out "their gross negligence" and ignoring our numerous complaints on the illegal construction, our zoning challenge, videos and pictures that we sent them: here.

Daily protests will be suspended for now as there is no construction taking place, we will keep you posted once they resume.

Please support Bay People and our legal team so we may sustain the fight!!! Our finances are open and transparent and we will gladly answer all your questions. Contributions to our cause can be made online via PayPal (www.BayPeople.org) or by sending a check or money order payable to:

Previously: Illegal Mosque Construction in Brooklyn: Government Collusion

Stopping a Muslim Brotherhood Mega-Mosque on a Quiet Brooklyn Block

A Mega-Mosque Grows on a Quiet Residential Brooklyn Street: Why There?

Islamic Imperialism in Brooklyn