Muslim Organization Sues New York Town Over Reversal of Approval for Islamic Boarding School
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\nThe United Muslims of America Association has filed a lawsuit against the Town of Islip on Long Island, New York, seeking to overturn a decision blocking its plan to establish a boarding school for 120 Muslim students in a historic building in Bay Shore. The association alleges that religious discrimination may have influenced the reversal of an earlier approval.<\/p>\n
Local authorities granted the association a permit in January to use the property for educational and residential purposes, but later withdrew their approval. The building had previously operated as a Catholic boarding school since 1926.<\/p>\n
The association maintains that its project plans remained unchanged between the initial approval and the subsequent rejection. It says it purchased the property for more than $5 million after receiving assurances from the town\u2019s planning official that the proposed use complied with local regulations.<\/p>\n
According to the association, the reversal followed a five-hour public meeting in July at which objections to the project were raised. The dispute also coincided with offensive comments circulating in local online groups, including descriptions of the proposed Islamic school as a \u201cterrorist training school.\u201d<\/p>\n
The town, meanwhile, has based its decision on its interpretation of zoning regulations, arguing that student residential accommodation is not an authorized use for schools in the area\u2019s residential zone.<\/p>\n
The association can still open the institution as a day school, but the question of whether students may reside on the premises is now before the courts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Muslim Organization Sues New York Town Over Reversal of Approval for Islamic Boarding School ———————————– The United Muslims of America Association has filed a lawsuit against the Town of Islip on Long Island, New York, seeking to overturn a decision blocking its plan to establish a boarding school for 120 Muslim students in a historic …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":146731,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_108372464460192_245495985553329":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-146732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-saudi"],"yoast_head":"\n