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The public face behind the controversial Islamic cultural center near the World Trade Center, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, will be stepping down from his role. The non-profit organization Park51 announced Friday that Imam Abdallah Adhami will be replacing Rauf as senior advisor.

A group known as the Majlis Ash-Shura of Metropolitan New York, aka the Islamic Leadership Council, braved the furious heat (remember, observant Muslims aren't even drinking water these days) and the questions of a sizable press contingent as they tried to reframe the story of the planned Islamic cultural center and mosque near Ground Zero.

Groups backing Park51, the proposed Islamic cultural center and mosque near the World Trade Center site, have formed a coalition they're calling New York Neighbors for American Values.

At this weekend's dueling rallies over the proposed Islamic cultural center and mosque near Ground Zero, this much was clear: The opposition to the project is larger and much better organized. In addition to having at least double the turnout of supporters, opponents had a stage and soundsystem and proper, printed signs that conveyed something to people watching on their TV sets, anywhere in the world.

Whether they are families of September 11 victims or just normal New Yorkers, a recent poll showed that the city is split over Park 51, the Islamic cultural center and mosque proposed a few blocks from Ground Zero, in lower Manhattan. Two-thirds of New Yorkers are against it, and less than one-third in favor. Mid-term election candidates have made the center an election issue, with politicians defending it as a First Amendment right or demanding that the city prevent the construction by taking over the site via "eminent domain." With all the controversy, emotions are running high. 

If you could decide whether or not the center were built at that location, how would you make your decision?

New York Gov. David Paterson says support is growing for his proposal of a land swap to move a proposed Islamic cultural center and mosque away from its site two blocks from the World Trade Center. Speaking this morning on WOR Radio, the governor encouraged developers to take up his idea.

Standing next to Gov. David Paterson, Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Wednesday dismissed the governor's proposal to resolve public outcry over a proposed mosque near Ground Zero by offering developers state land if they move the project.