Mosque Is Blocked in New Jersey, but Dispute Is Far From Over

[TomSea]

Mosque Is Blocked in New Jersey, but Dispute Is Far From Over
By SHARON OTTERMAN  MARCH 10, 2017

BAYONNE, N.J. — They thought they had found the perfect place to build the first mosque and Islamic community center in this city’s history: an empty 8,500-square-foot warehouse at the end of a dead-end block, with room on its lot for 37 parking spots.

But since paying $1 million for the property in 2015, Waheed Akbar and his nonprofit group, Bayonne Muslims, have faced an angry campaign by local residents, graffiti slurs outside their temporary prayer hall and numerous zoning and planning hurdles.

What seemed to be a possible end of the line for the mosque came on Monday night, when after a heated, six-hour-long meeting at Bayonne High School, the city’s zoning board did not approve the idea.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/10/nyregion/mosque-bayonne-new-jersey.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20170310&_r=0