'I Got a Problem With This Ostentatious Building Looming Over Ground Zero'

Lost in all the furor over the Ground Zero mosque (yes, AP, it's the Ground Zero mosque is the little detail about how this abomination actually gets built. If New York City's construction workers have any say, it won't be happening.

A growing number of New York construction workers are vowing not to work on the mosque planned near Ground Zero.

"It's a very touchy thing because they want to do this on sacred ground," said Dave Kaiser, 38, a blaster who is working to rebuild the World Trade Center site.

"I wouldn't work there, especially after I found out about what the imam said about U.S. policy being responsible for 9/11," Kaiser said.

The grass-roots movement is gaining momentum on the Internet. One construction worker created the "Hard Hat Pledge" on his blog and asked others to vow not to work on the project if it stays on Park Place.

"Thousands of people are signing up from all over the country," said creator Andy Sullivan, a construction worker from Brooklyn. "People who sell glass, steel, lumber, insurance. They are all refusing to do work if they build there."

"Hopefully, this will be a tool to get them to move it," he said. "I got a problem with this ostentatious building looming over Ground Zero."

A planned 13-story community center and mosque two blocks from Ground Zero, Park51 has exploded into a national debate.

Louis Coletti, president of the Building Trades Employers' Association, said unions have not yet taken a "formal position" on Park51, but he understands why members would be hesitant to work there.

"It's a very difficult dilemma for the contractors and the organized labor force because we are experiencing such high levels of unemployment," he said. "Yet at the same time, this is a very sacred sight to the union guys."

"There were construction workers killed on 9/11 and many more who got horribly sick cleaning up Ground Zero," Coletti said. "It's very emotional."

Well, I'm sure once they're called insensitive bigots by Michael Bloomberg they'll all be rushing down to do the job, right?

Meanwhile, the wife of the imam behind this mess blames Republicans for their plight. Sure, let's ignore all the Democrats and independents who are against it.

Khan said the organizers "will have a dialogue" with the families of 9/11 victims, but added about the mosque site: "It is private property. To walk away without taking everything into consideration would be irresponsible."

Instead of creating enemies, she said, she hopes this controversy will help people better understand Islam.

"We are debating about having a healing dialogue, building bridges, and this whole thing has turned into the opposite of what we have envisioned," she said.

Khan said she is completely taken aback by the opposition.

She expressed surprise that "a community center for everyone in the neighborhood, to scale up and build up people of all religions, has become so skewed."

The clamor around the mosque has become so deafening, she said, she's afraid to turn on the TV.

"It's hard to see yourself portrayed this way daily. But to me, it's an indication that the post-9/11 controversy is not finished. It's not over and neither is the healing. This is a teaching moment. A healing moment," she said.

She blamed partisan strife for stirring up people's emotions.

"It's hard for us to imagine we are in the thick of a controversy like this. The Republicans are really going after us," she said.

Maybe they ought to leave building dialog to Greg Gutfeld.

Anyone notice the irony that Obama wants the mosque built near Ground Zero yet opposes the Israelis building settlements on their own property? Perhaps some "dialogue" is in order.