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Despite the worldwide controversy that erupted last year over Sharif El-Gamal’s plan to develop a mosque and Muslim cultural center near the World Trade Center site, El-Gamal is spearheading a new effort to make the proposal a reality.

An organization linked to Park 51, the controversial Islamic cultural center and mosque near Ground Zero, suddenly cancelled a Wednesday night performance of a play featuring September 11 family members.

Before the year 2010 fades out with the melting snow, it's worth taking a few moments to think about the events of the past 12 months. Here in the New York area we've had intense political squabbles, a continued economic downturn, transit hikes, a tornado -- and it all began with a cataclysmic event overseas that affected thousands of New Yorkers. Revisit the full year in sound in the montage here, and be sure to watch the slideshow below to relive some of New York's key political moments of 2010.

For those who consider Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf the embodiment of evil -- a wily terrorist sympathizer bent on bringing "stealth jihad" to the United States -- the sight of him in a light blue cashmere sweater may feel incongruous. But these days, the imam seems a lot more relaxed than he did this summer, at the height of the furor over Park 51.

This summer's vitriolic debate over a downtown Islamic center and mosque has made clear that some Americans - and even New Yorkers - struggle to distinguish between the vast majority of Muslims and a few violent extremists.  So WNYC invited New York's police commissioner, a forensic psychiatrist who studies terrorists, and leaders within the Muslim community to join the Next New York Conversation: a one-hour special from the Greene Space exploring diverse perspectives on the roots of homegrown terror, alienation, and prejudice against Muslims.