Neighbors concerned about Selden mosque expansion

Rauf Sharif left Afghanistan 26 years ago, settled in the metropolitan area and moved to Middle Island eight years ago. Eight months ago, he achieved a dream of opening his own Afghan restaurant.

Since coming to the area, he also has attended Long Island's oldest mosque - the Islamic Association of Long Island in Selden. He has watched it and the surrounding Muslim community grow, to the point where mosque members say they need a new building to accommodate membership.

The proposed demolition of the 5,600-square-foot mosque on Parkhill Drive just off Middle Country Road and the building of an 8,000-square-foot replacement with a smaller footprint have exposed tensions between the growing Muslim population and the neighborhood around it. Some residents of the area say a building that size is not compatible with the community and will bring large numbers of cars at Friday afternoon prayer services, just when, school buses ply the same road.

For their part, some mosque members say they believe neighbors' concerns about traffic and safety mask anti-Muslim bias. Meanwhile, the Brookhaven Town Planning Board has twice delayed signing off on the mosque's construction plans. Board chairman Vincent Pascale has declined to take a stand on the proposed expansion. The board could vote at a Nov. 8 meeting, when it will also consider a proposal to build a mosque off Granny Road in Medford.

Supervisor Mark Lesko said a traffic light will be placed at an intersection near the Selden mosque. He said he believes neighbors' concerns about the expansion are rooted in worries about traffic, not prejudice.

"I don't think anyone has an aversion to building a house of worship of any kind," he said.

No bias, opponents say

Anthony Agostino, who has lived in the neighborhood for more than 35 years, bristles at the notion that he and other opponents of the expansion have an anti-Muslim bias. He said a bigger mosque will make it harder for emergency vehicles and school buses to access the area.

"It's a disaster the way the parking is, and I could care less if they build a mosque," said Agostino, 71, a retired bus driver. "A school bus cannot get up there."

The mosque, once a Lutheran church, attracts about 300 people during Friday afternoon prayer services - about twice as many as 15 years ago, said Tahir Qureshi, the mosque's board chairman. Strip malls dotted with Middle Eastern stores flank the mosque on Middle Country Road, along with a halal meat grocer and a South Asian spice store.

Qureshi, 46, said some mosque members' feelings were bruised by a flier circulated by opponents of the expansion saying the mosque was trying to "slip by" town officials and gain approval. To counter these suspicions, Qureshi said he wants an open house at the mosque. Tensions also are acknowledged by opponents, who say they have been unfairly portrayed as prejudiced.

"This has nothing to do with the mosque," said resident Jim Leonard, 49, adding that residents would oppose "an 8,000-square-foot bowling alley" on the same property.

In recent months, Muslim communities in Bethpage, Medford and New Hyde Park have met with some neighborhood resistance as they tried to build, expand or reopen mosques or Islamic community centers. Community activists have cited a range of concerns, including traffic and parking, building safety and deflating property values.

Habeeb Ahmed, board head at the Westbury-based Islamic Center of Long Island, said he believes mosque expansion opponents have been emboldened by uproar over a proposed Islamic community center near Ground Zero in lower Manhattan.

Ahmed said he also believes some opponents' sentiments have been fueled by the growth of Long Island's Muslim community. Long Island is home to 22 mosques and sanctuaries where people gather for prayer, he said - at least twice as many as 15 years ago, he added. Houses of worship range from small groups meeting in private homes to Bay Shore's Masjid Darul Quran, which can fit 650 people.

Several Long Island mosques reached out to the public last week through open houses. The Westbury center is holding one Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. "The politicians are doing a very effective job making us look like demons and Satans. That's why we're doing open houses," Ahmed said.

Opponents: Safety is at issue

For his part, Leonard said opposition to the Selden mosque expansion is a matter of safety.

"It is a danger to our kids riding bikes," said Leonard, adding that during services, mosque attendees park in front of his house, one-tenth of a mile away. "This or any other building does not belong in a residential neighborhood."

Prayer space in the mosque is inconveniently divided between several rooms. Space concerns will only worsen as the Muslim community grows, worshipers said. The congregation is Sunni, but its policy is that "all are welcome," Qureshi said. It is an ethnically mixed group, with many immigrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey and Bangladesh as well as American-born worshipers, he said.

Sharif, 48, whose restaurant is next to the mosque, said the time has come for the Islamic Association to have a new building. He said he thinks the two communities can coexist fine.

"I would love to see them build the mosque here, bigger and better," Sharif said. "The community is growing and they need room for people to pray."