Frank Langan, 50, site superintendent from Queens working at Ground Zero
Go right ahead and work on it, Frank.
Posted on 08/20/2010 5:59:26 AM PDT by Second Amendment First
A growing number of New York construction workers are vowing not to work on the mosque planned near Ground Zero.
"It's a very touchy thing because they want to do this on sacred ground," said Dave Kaiser, 38, a blaster who is working to rebuild the World Trade Center site.
"I wouldn't work there, especially after I found out about what the imam said about U.S. policy being responsible for 9/11," Kaiser said.
The grass-roots movement is gaining momentum on the Internet. One construction worker created the "Hard Hat Pledge" on his blog and asked others to vow not to work on the project if it stays on Park Place.
"Thousands of people are signing up from all over the country," said creator Andy Sullivan, a construction worker from Brooklyn. "People who sell glass, steel, lumber, insurance. They are all refusing to do work if they build there."
"Hopefully, this will be a tool to get them to move it," he said. "I got a problem with this ostentatious building looming over Ground Zero."
A planned 13-story community center and mosque two blocks from Ground Zero, Park51 has exploded into a national debate.
Louis Coletti, president of the Building Trades Employers' Association, said unions have not yet taken a "formal position" on Park51, but he understands why members would be hesitant to work there.
"It's a very difficult dilemma for the contractors and the organized labor force because we are experiencing such high levels of unemployment," he said. "Yet at the same time, this is a very sacred sight to the union guys."
"There were construction workers killed on 9/11 and many more who got horribly sick cleaning up Ground Zero," Coletti said. "It's very emotional."
L.V. Spina, a Manhattan construction worker who created anti-mosque stickers that some workers are slapping on their hardhats, said he would "rather pick cans and bottles out of trash cans" than build the Islamic center near Ground Zero.
"But if they moved it somewhere else, we would put up a prime building for these people," he said. "Hell, you could do it next to my house in Rockaway Beach, I would be fine with it. But I'm not fine with it where blood has been spilled."
Spina, who sells 9/11 apparel on his website, said he's printed thousands of stickers and plans to produce thousands more.
"They're going all over the country," he said. "They got pretty popular fast."
Popularity aside, there are some construction workers choosing not to set themselves against the project.
"Hundreds of guys here are wearing stickers as a sign of protest, but I'm on the fence about it," said Frank Langan, 50, a site superintendent from Queens working at Ground Zero.
"It's a tough debate," he said. "I sympathize with workers' position, but at the same time, you can't single out all Muslims because of a small number of terrorists."
We’ll see what the union workers do when it comes time for the jobs.
I wonder how long it will be before the ‘press’ begins to diss the construction workers? You know, start calling them uneducated, unenlightened, that sort of thing. At least these guys have their heads on right and I applaud them!
Well Frank, it’s not a small number. Even if you go with the 10% estimate. It’s 110 Million.
There is a poll there that needs freeping plus a message board.
There is a poll there that needs freeping plus a message board.
They’ll just bring in muslim workers from all across the world to work on it..................
I wish that the boycott would be extended to all mosques, anywhere in America.
Most of them are dens of terrorism, subversion, and hate!!!!
Frank Langan, 50, site superintendent from Queens working at Ground Zero
Go right ahead and work on it, Frank.
I wonder if they’ll just get a bunch of Somali workers to build it.
These union guys helped put the imam in the White House. Will they take a principled stand and refuse to build it, or will their bosses make them?
Poll Results
Thank you for voting.
A Landmarks panel vote clears the way for a mosque near Ground Zero. Is it an appropriate location for the mosque?
Yes, there is no reason why it should not be there. 76%
No, it does not belong so near the site of the 9/11 attacks. 24%
I’m not sure. 0%
I can see it now. It is late afternoon and over the ashes of ground zero comes the echoing call to prayer over the loudspeakers of the Mosque. As Obama says one of the best sounds he has ever heard. Disgusting.
"That's a nice design for a mosque ya got there. Only thing is, I am not sure that you have chosen a proper venue for this establishment. Yaknowhatimean? I'm just sayin' it would be a shame if something untoward were to happen during the construction. Yaknowhatimsayin?"
No wonder the Liberals love them so much. They are anti-american too.
That’s my question. The workers may legitimately feel that way, but we all know for whom the union thugs work.
I agree. With 10% unempoyment, and higher in the NYC building industry, I doubt there will be the eagerness to forego jobs that pay$30-60 an hour.A lot of these guys haven’t held a real job in months, and the day jobs that used to tide them over during the winters and off times are being done by illegals. So when the bids start going out I expect both the construction companies and unions to be there.
A little abatement by self help—it may be time for that soon.
And they have no room for my position--no mosques anywhere!!!!
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