Bethpage Mosque Shut Down For Code Violations

BETHPAGE, N.Y (WCBS 880) -- A Bethpage Mosque has been closed down following code violations issued by the Town of Oyster Bay.

WCBS 880's Sophia Hall says town officials told her the mosque, located on Central Avenue, was shut down because of a number of building-code violations as well as plumbing issues.

Some residents who live near the Masjid al-Baqi mosque say parking also became and issue.

"They are free to worship wherever they want," one woman told Hall, "but the parking is a definite problem."

Town officials told Hall that the mosque would be able to reopen if they filed for the proper permits and brought the building up to code.

An attorney for the mosque told Newsday that officials hope to have the building in compliance by October and hinted that a lawsuit was a possibility if both sides didn't come to an agreement soon.

Town Supervisor John Venditto told the paper that the decision had nothing to do with "punishment" but rather "compliance" with the building code.

In the meantime, members of the mosque have been left to worship elsewhere during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.