NYC gives Teabaggers Bronx Cheer from Daily Kos

source http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/8/3/889940/-NYC-gives-Teabaggers-Bronx-Cheer?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+%28Daily+Kos%29

The NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission (it's as powerful as it sounds) voted unanimously to not landmark the building that is standing in the way of the proposed mosque. From their standpoint, the building in question is not notable for any particular reason, therefore did not deserve protection.

The LPC was not about to damage it's credibility by landmarking a building just to satisfy a bunch of wingnut pundits on Fox News and their internet skinhead followers. They are there to determine if a building is worthy of distinction. It is a power that must be used carefully because once the LPC landmarks a building, you can't so much as replace the carpeting without their permission. For them to bow to political pressure would have been a travesty.

The vote was received with loud applause from New Yorkers, as reported in the Daily News. As Lawrence Lewis noted yesterday:

Muslim New Yorkers are every bit as innocent of the crimes of 9/11 as are all other New Yorkers. Muslim New Yorkers suffered and continue to suffer as did and do all other New Yorkers. They have the same rights and responsibilities as do all other New Yorkers.

Initially, New Yorkers reacted to this "issue" with our "whatsit gotta do wit me?" reaction to things in general. The outcry came from the usual suspects of rural right wingers ginned up by Fox News. New Yorkers are simply too busy to worry about who is building what in Downtown Manhattan. In fact, union men from the building trades in Brooklyn will be happy to hear there is more work coming. New Yorkers are simply unfazed by Islamophobia. I've told this story over the years: On the morning of 9/11 I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge covered in debris. That same evening I ate at an Afghan restaurant on the Upper West Side. It was full.

New York City will not be stopped. Not by terrorists, not by teabaggers.

While the Landmarks Commission may have been dealing with the narrow concerns of real estate history and architectural aesthetics, the cheers that erupted after the verdict sends a clear message to intolerant non-New Yorkers like Palin: If you don't like if you don't like our religious tolerance, if you don't like our racial diversity, if you don't what we build in our city, don't come here. But don't for one second think you can tell us what we can and cannot build.

See Bensonola's recommended diary for more discussion.