Hiding behind the mosque
It's hard to summarize David Bernstein's detailed history of the Roxbury mosque, because there are so many bizarre and infuriating things about it. But for a Boston resident, one highlight is the way the city sold the land for the project to a Saudi-dominated suburban group for well below its market value on the promise the mosque would dedicate resources to all nearby residents, a promise the mosque seems unlikely to keep - all at the insistence of a mosque backer who also happened to be a BRA staffer:
... It is the involvement of city officials — backed by the strong support of Menino and the now scandal-tinged state senator Dianne Wilkerson — that distinguishes this project from the many churches, synagogues, mosques, and other facilities that are built and expanded all the time. ...
Comments
what do you find so bizarre and infuriating?
I was surprised at all the things Bernstein tracked down. He's done a ton of investigative work. It's a complicated story, not one you can quickly summarize. What specifically did you find so bizarre and infuriating about it?
kind of tendentious
The story makes all kinds of dubious assertions. It's a sectarian hit piece.
For example, it says that the sale of the lot for $175,000 was "below market" in 1998. I doubt that was significantly below market for that piece of land and there were few potential commercial uses, given the lack of parking, and no real prospect of residential development.
real estate valuation
Hmm, a "sectarian" hit-piece? As opposed to what other sort of hit piece?
Anyway, the larger valuation figures for Parcel R-14 came from the BRA itself. A letter on BRA letterhead, from BRA's Ali-Salaam to Dr. Grace Brown (president of Roxbury Community Colege) dated March 28, 2000, noted that the fair market value of the subject property was $2,010,996.
BRA's Ali-Salaam also told the ISB that a nearby parcel of land was sold to the US Post Office for $16/square foot, but that the ISB should negotiate using the $6.50/square foot.
The conflict of interest here is staggering. Why didn't Ali-Salaam, himself a member and supporter of the ISB, recuse himself from this project? Instead, taxpayer dollars were used to promote and subsidize a religious entity.