N.Y. gov. proposes alternative mosque site

NEW YORK, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Organizers of a planned mosque near Ground Zero in New York have not replied to an offer to consider an alternate site, officials say.

New York Governor David Paterson offered to help the Islamic community leaders find a different location, although he is not opposed to the proposed location just two blocks from Ground Zero, the Wall Street Journal said Thursday.

"I think that they (Muslims) would like to stay where they are, and I certainly respect that and I certainly respect them," Paterson said. The governor's belief that mosque organizers are not interested in considering a different location is based on media reports, a spokesman in his office said.

A recent poll said about 70 percent of Americans surveyed oppose the proposed site, and a different poll of registered voters in New York City showed 53 percent in opposition, the Journal reported.

"What I wanted to do is to have a conversation with them about how other people are feeling, not who is right or wrong ... but the fact that we really are all victims and perhaps we just need to understand each other a little better," Paterson said in the report.