Ground Zero Bars, Strip Clubs Abound

The outcry over the Ground Zero Pussycat Lounge and Ground Zero Thunder Lingerie is surprisingly absent, say reporters who took a look at what else lies on what opponents of a proposed mosque and community center call hallowed ground. The New York Daily News counted 17 pizza shops, 18 bank branches, 11 bars, and the aforementioned strip club and sex shop within a few blocks of Ground Zero, as well as 10 churches, three synagogues, a Hare Krishna meeting hall—and an existing Muslim prayer hall.

Some of the mosque's opponents say that it's the size of the proposed 13-story structure that has made it a target, and suggest that the outcry could help kick-start efforts to decide what belongs in the area and what doesn't. "There are limits to what you can be opposing just as a practical matter," a Republican state lawmaker said. "Tomorrow, if some guy were to build some 8-story strip club a block away, we would do what we'd have to do." (More Ground Zero mosque stories.)