New York isn't ready yet for mosque near Ground Zero

A mosque near Ground Zero? Not there. Not now.

This is a determination of the heart, not of the head. And it, admittedly, flies in the face of what's great about America, land of the free, home of the brave.

Freedom of religion is a core value, a precious right that must endure.

Still, the area around Ground Zero is a rare place in the nation's history. Ground Zero has been called sacred ground. But it's also a battlefield, birthplace of the ongoing War on Terror. Ground Zero is to the nation - and especially this region - in this century what Pearl Harbor was in the last.

There are too many locals who lost family in the Twin Towers, communities that lost residents, children who lost parents. There are also neighbors who still count themselves blessed for escaping the bombings and those equally blessed for the doctor's appointment or late train that kept them away that fateful day.

There are other neighbors, plentiful on Long Island, who worked "The Pile," cops, ambulance and other rescue workers now dying of respiratory and other ailments.

There are local veterans, too, bearing physical and mental wounds. But they've made it home - while streets are named after those who didn't.

Last week alone:

Vincent Albanese, a retired New York City firefighter from Huntington Station who worked "The Pile" and died of cancer, was laid to rest - days after the Congress failed to pass legislation that would give sick rescuers some relief.

An overpass on the William Floyd Parkway over Montauk Highway was named after Army Cpl. Paulo Marko Pacificador of Shirley, who died three years ago in a roadside bombing in Iraq.

A somber memorial service was held at the Eatons Neck Coast Guard station for Nathan Bruckenthal of Smithtown, the Guard's first war casualty since Vietnam. He died in the Persian Gulf in 2004.

Every Muslim is not to blame for Sept. 11. The idea is absurd. Still, even after nearly nine years, the wounds of Sept. 11 remain raw. More than anything, the region needs more time to move beyond its pain.

While I disagree with the position taken by Mayor Michael Bloomberg on the mosque near Ground Zero, he is to be admired for being clear, clean and consistent in his view - unlike President Barack Obama's waffling.

Position aside, Bloomberg makes an important point. At times like these - low times, fearful times - Americans must be reminded that the nation is greater than the sum of its pain.

That America has values. And that we intend to live by them. Even now, we do need to aim higher. We do need to look beyond the present. We do need to protect the essential rights, like religious freedom, that make America great.

That's why what happened in the town of Oyster Bay is such a slippery slope, as evidenced by the town's decision to shutter a local mosque at the start of Ramadan after some residents complained about plans to open another one. Inspectors found building code violations - one of them, a leaking gas valve, potentially life-threatening. But once the gas valve was fixed, the town could have allowed the building to stay open temporarily, even as it made certain that other violations were being corrected.

As the Oyster Bay situation illustrates, there is a need for more Americans to get beyond fear of Islam, of Muslims.

It's one of the reasons a cultural center in New York makes sense.

There will come a time when dialogue, even within blocks of Ground Zero, will be possible.

Maybe it's when the wars, finally, are behind us. Maybe it's a generation from now. The time will come; it must come.

But the region, still trying to absorb the horror of Sept. 11, isn't there yet.