No community programs at 'Ground Zero' mosque a year after the controversy
December 10, 2012
It's all pray and no play.
The Islamic cultural center near Ground Zero that opened with great fanfare a year ago is now an empty space with no community programs.
And while the developers behind Park51 insisted for two years that the project was more than a mosque, it now appears to be just that. Dozens of worshipers gather at the site on Park Place Friday for prayer services - but that's the only activity in the building.
Gone are the Arabic classes, workshops in calligraphy, talks on the genealogy of Muslims in America, film screenings and art exhibits. The sole community event is a class in capoeira - an Afro-Brazilian martial art that combines dance and music. The teacher of the twice-weekly class said she has five students.
"We are the only cultural program that is still there," said Luz Emma Canas Jesus, of Capoeira Mucurumim.
The Park51 Twitter feed was last updated in June, and its Web site lists no events. The Web site for the mosque, formally called Prayer Space, lists four services a day, and a handwritten note on the building's window also advertises a 4 a.m. service.
Park51 organizers repeatedly refused to answer questions about what happened to the programs offered last fall and spring.
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