Tel-Chai Nation: NYC mayor Bloomberg's office abused positions to help imam Rauf gain approval for mosque

As this New York Post article tells, mayor Michael Bloomberg and his office staff, now rightfully looked upon in disgrace by many Americans, wrongfully used his standing to help the reprehensible imam Feisal Rauf to gain city approval for the mosque he wants to build at Ground Zero (via Jihad Watch and Atlas Shrugs):

Dozens of e-mails between Mayor Bloomberg's aides and developers of the proposed mosque near Ground Zero reveal a cordial, if not downright cozy, relationship and the length to which a top city staffer went to help the project -- even drafting a letter for the group soliciting support from the community board, and providing the fax number to send it.

In one exchange, Community Affairs Commissioner Nazli Parvizi penned the draft of a letter to be sent by Daisy Khan, a key sponsor of the project known alternately as Cordoba House or Park51, to the chairperson of Community Board 1, Julie Menin, as the panel prepared to vote on its recommendation on the project.

The letter drafted by Parvizi thanked Menin for being open-minded about the plan for a mosque and cultural center -- which by then had become a flashpoint issue around the nation.

Parvizi e-mailed the draft to Khan and her husband, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf -- ending with the salutation, "Best, Daisy," indicating that she actually was preparing Khan's letter to a city agency.

She also included the fax number and mailing address for CB1 -- which ultimately voted in favor of the project in May -- and offered further assistance.[...]

Opponents of the plan were furious.

"The mayor was touting, ironically, government not being involved in religion, and here you have the mayor's staffer assisting in a public-relations campaign on behalf of a mosque and Islamic center," said Debra Burlingame, whose brother was a pilot of one of the hijacked planes on 9/11.

"I think this is highly improper."

So do I. And for this, Bloomberg should practically be impeached. I would not be one bit surprised if Bloomberg himself fully approved of this, and had his staffers do the dirty work to avert attention from his own involvement; it's usually done that way in cases like these. In any case, it does not excuse Bloomberg's own disgraceful behavior in all this. He has shown utter contempt for the victims of 9-11, and the sooner he's out of office, the better.

Update: The Wall Street Journal (via The Weekly Standard) has just reported about this disturbing case too:

The chairman of the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission allegedly wanted "political cover" before denying landmark status to a building situated on the site of the proposed Islamic community center near Ground Zero, giving critics ammunition in their legal quest to stop the project, records released Thursday showed.

The records—sought by the project's opponents and released by City Hall—show members of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration working very closely with the organizers of the project, known as Park51, to combat public opposition and navigate various governmental hurdles. One city official ghost-wrote a letter for the project's organizers.

Aides to Mr. Bloomberg, an outspoken champion of the organizers' right to build the mosque, said the slew of emails reflects the typical back-and-forth between government officials and members of the community. The project's opponents said the records show the Bloomberg administration was in cahoots with the organizers. The records, they allege, raise serious questions about the legitimacy of the Landmarks Preservation Commission's Aug. 3 vote, which paved the way for the project to rise two blocks from the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

In one email from May, Shelly Friedman, the organizers' lawyer, wrote that Manhattan Community Board 1's vote in support of the project would be helpful as organizers urged landmark commission Chairman Robert Tierney and other panel members to reject landmark status for the building currently on the site. "I do know that chairman Tierney was looking forward to having the 'political cover' their support would bring him," Ms. Friedman wrote.

[...]

Brett Joshpe, counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, one of the groups that sought the documents and is suing the city, said Ms. Friedman's email is telling.

"Our allegation all along has been that politics tainted this process and that the Landmarks decision was not actually based on a faithful review of the architectural or historical value of the building but based upon political influences," Mr. Joshpe said.

The exchange of emails also reveals how heavily involved the administration was in the project's development. One email shows that Nazli Parvizi, the city's community affairs commissioner, drafted a letter that Daisy Khan, the wife of Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, wrote to the community board. City officials also intervened to help the organizers get permits to conduct prayers at the site. In one email, organizers agreed to help fund a 2009 Ramadan celebration at Gracie Mansion.

Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, said the emails are proof that the mayor's staff was coordinating with the Islamic center's leaders.

"They were getting press advice from the mayor's office, they were editing letters for them," he said. "They were advising them on the all important landmark issue."

"They were told what to do in order to get approval and there was never any question of getting approval," he said. "It was obviously political."