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Poll: Majority Of NYers Oppose Ground Zero Mosque

NEW YORK (CBS 2) -- The mosque controversy is broken down into numbers, with a new poll finding the majority of New Yorkers are opposed to a planned mosque near Ground Zero.

The Siena Research Institute polled 622 New Yorkers. Of those surveyed, 61 percent are opposed to the Islamic cultural center on Park Place, while 26 support the plan.

But 38 percent see both sides of the issue as legitimate.

Meanwhile, a group of Jewish activists and community leaders has rallied in support of  the planned Islamic center near the World Trade Center site.

Rabbi Arthur Waskow of the Philadelphia based Shalom Center joined about 30 other religious leaders and Jewish activists Thursday at the spot where the Cordoba Initiative hopes to build a mosque, athletic center, culinary school and art studios.

Waskow said he thought it was appropriate for a Muslim institution to be present in lower Manhattan, and condemned some criticism of the plan as "hatred."

Some conservatives and other critics have opposed the center, saying it was provocative for a mosque to be built so close to a spot where Islamic terrorists killed thousands.

(TM and Copyright 2010 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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