Source: Staten Island Live
http://www.silive.com/eastshore/index.ssf/2010/07/a_move_on_staten_island_to_bro.html
Muslims rallying on the steps of Borough Hall yesterday in support of the Midland Beach mosque unveiled a plan to form an Islamic civic association on Staten Island.
The group said the move was prompted by the heated response to the planned conversion of a former convent owned by St. Margaret Mary R.C. Church into a mosque and community center. “The reaction to the sale of the convent hurt us,” said Hesham El-Meligy of the Arab Muslim American Federation, who estimates there are about 30,000 Muslims on Staten Island. “We are Staten Islanders. We have the right to have a house of worship anywhere of our choosing according to the law of the land. We don’t want a privilege that no one else has.”