Ground Zero Mosque Moves Ahead

Looks like the plans for New York City’s highly controversial mosque and community center, located just blocks from Ground Zero, will go ahead as scheduled: The Landmarks Preservation Commission, a city panel, voted 9-0 on Tuesday against granting the 152-year-old property landmark status. The building, they said, did not meet the proper historic criteria to qualify. New York and national politicians—Sarah Palin and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich among them—and the Anti-Defamation League have come out in protest of the mosque, arguing that it's offensive to the families of the victims of September 11. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, among several other high-profile figures, supports its development.