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The group behind a polarizing proposal for a Muslim all-boys boarding school on Long Island said the local town board caved to Islamophobic mob pressure when it did an about-face and killed the plan, a new lawsuit claims.
The United American Muslim Association is asking a New York state judge to overturn the Islip Zoning Board of Appeals’ September ruling, which blocked students from living at the former Catholic boarding school and seminary in Bay Shore, according to court papers filed Thursday.
Islip had already granted the boarding school its blessing in January, signing off on the plan to open and house 120 Muslim students — before the town reversed course after a wave of Islamophobia swept through NIMBY neighborhood Facebook groups and at a packed, five-hour public meeting in July, the lawsuit argued.
“[Muslims] are infiltrating everywhere like cockroaches,” one local wrote under a July post about the school, according to a trove of screenshots provided in the filing and reviewed by The Post.
Another Long Islander called it “a terrorist training school,” while more piled on with hateful comments in town Facebook groups like Bay Shore’s “Saxon Says No” and “Massapequa Matters.”
Protestors were also removed from July’s explosive town hall.
The plans for the school hadn’t been altered between the initial sign-off and the town’s shocking reversal last month, which has led the group’s attorneys to argue the only change over that period was the bigotry that boiled over, court papers said.
“For nearly fifty years, students lived, learned and prayed on this property — UAMA seeks to open those doors again — the faith of the students may change, [but] the law’s protection must remain constant,” said attorney Muhammad Faridi, who is representing the group.
“We are asking the court to restore the Town’s original determination and ensure that this Muslim community receives the fair treatment the law requires,” Faridi added.
Prior to purchasing the Bay Shore property for over $5 million last year, UAMA said the town planner OK’d their proposal — including the boarding component — assuring them it was completely legal under the town’s code, according to the filing.
But in September, the town ruled that boarding was not a permitted use despite the property’s past, its current zoning as a parochial school, and the fact that its dorms are still erected on the grounds.
The property previously served as a seminary and boarding school where generations of Catholic students lived, learned and prayed from 1926 to its closure in 1972 — when it transitioned into the congregation’s headquarters and a home for aging priests until they sold it to UAMA.