That is not so long ago ... 10 years? My how the situation has changed downstate.
community board 1 appropriated 2 entire city blocks for a mosque’s PARKING lot forbidding any other parking on 2 muslim holy days.
Not good. There was a similar situation in Hamtranck MI which boasts a large Arabic speaking population. When the Muslim population reached a certain point, they appealed to the City Board for permission to install loudspeakers on their mosques to call the faithful to prayer 5 times a day. Permission was granted. Meanwhile, Catholic Churches were told to stop ringing their bells on Sundays as it 'disturbed' the local area residents. BTW - Hamtranck is also home to many Arabic speaking Chaldean and Maronite Catholic refugees from the Middle East.
Not far from where I reside in Albany NY, construction is now underway for a 2 minaret mosque. Ironically, it is adjacent to a Knights of Columbus Hall. Up until now, the only mosques here were store front operations. One of them was shut down when Federal Marshalls arrested the imam for attempted sale of weapons. The media have thrown their sympathy behind the imam and his congregation.
I previously lived roughly 2 blocks from that Muslim meeting place that was shut down. It was shut down after I moved away from Albany, but it was still kind of freaky. I used to walk by that place to eat lunch at Subway, and to go to church at St. Patrick’s on Central Ave.