A developer paused construction of a major Harlem project to allow a tent to go up to create a temporary mosque for a Muslim congregation to celebrate Eid al-Fitr after their location was damaged by a fire.
Hundreds of worshippers on March 20 gathered in a tent to celebrate the end of Ramadan after developer Bruce Teitelbaum and his partners stepped up to help a Muslim congregation unable to worship in their mosque due to a fire.
The fire occurred last Saturday at the Timbuktu Islamic Center at 350 West 145th St. days before Eid al Fitr, leaving the congregation without a home available for use on that holy day.
Teitelbaum, an Orthodox Jew, and his partners paused construction of One45 Harlem — three buildings slated to house nearly 1,100 residential units, including about 350 affordable units — at 145th Street and Lenox Avenue.
“Today is proof that when you do the right thing everyone wins. Today we rejected divisiveness, hate, overheated rhetoric and any attempt to define who we are and what we believe in,” he said on March 20.
Modibo Soumano, the center’s president, said the tent provided an alternative after a fire rendered the mosque temporarily unusable.
“It’s a very important holiday,” he said of the importance of praying together on that day. “Everybody was happy. It was a very good thing for us.”
Those who pray at the mosque saw the temporary structure as a silver lining in a cloud that left the congregation with no space at a crucial time.
“They set up a tent so people could come and pray,” said Usman Tengo, who prays regularly at the Timbuktu Islamic Center. “They had to find a space to put a tent. People came together and prayed as a congregation.”
Teitelbaum is building a project nine years in the works approved by the City Council last July 14, although they put work on hold briefly.
“We are glad to lend a helping hand to our Muslim friends who are observing the holy day of Eid,” Teitelbaum said on Instagram. “There is too much divisiveness, anger and hate nowadays, so any opportunity to do some good and find common ground is a blessing.”
In another post, he talked about how they rapidly made way for a “makeshift mosque” to provide space and a place for worship.
“Practically overnight, we transformed our demolition site into a place of spirituality and peace,” Teitelbaum said in a post. “We built a spot away from the hustle and grind of the City that takes its toll, and we created some common ground.”
Harlem City Council Member Yusuf Salaam, chair of the City Council’s Committee to Combat Hate, described the temporary mosque as an example of cooperation.
“When the Timbuktu Islamic Center’s mosque was damaged by fire just days before their holiest celebration, Bruce and the One45 team didn’t hesitate,” he told CBS’s Marcia Kramer on the site.
“They decided to stop construction, delay their demolition schedule,” he added of work done to welcome “our Muslim neighbors for Eid Al Fitr.”
Salaam saw this as a way to “promote compassion and tolerance among our communities, because strength in unified righteous collaboration is what defeats hate.”
Teitelbaum said the leadership of the center, a few blocks from their site, called after the fire, looking for a location.
“They called to tell us what happened,” he said by phone. “They asked if there was some way we could help them.”
He found out about the fire on March 18 and spoke to his partners about doing something. Because demolition had already started, indoor space at the One45 site was impossible.
Thoughts then turned to erecting a tent to host the Muslim congregation.
“We checked the weather report,” he added of the decision to offer a tent. “We started calling tent companies.”
Teitelbaum delayed work as a tent, paid for some of his group’s investors, went up so the congregation for morning and afternoon services on Friday.
“To our knowledge,” he said on Instagram, “this is the first ‘pop-up’ Mosque of its kind in New York City.”
Matt Jozwiak and Rethink Food, a nonprofit that collects and redistributes food from restaurants, provided food such as dates and pastries, while Adama Bah and Africana helped organize.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch and 32 Precinct leadership and officers helped make sure things “went off without a hitch,” Teitelbaum added.
“A gorgeous mosaic,” Teitelbaum said of cooperation to make this happen in Harlem. “Today was a good day.”
Soumano said fire damaged the first floor of a building where Teitelbaum and his partners had helped before.
The mosque, which had leased space at a building being demolished to make way for this project, moved in 2023 with the help of a $500,000 loan from Teitelbaum and his partners.
“They found a building about four blocks from the original site and it was for sale,” Teitelbaum said. “They didn’t have enough money to buy the building.”
The center, under Islamic teachings, couldn’t pay interest on principal, but needed money to own rather than rent.
“We agreed to lend them $500,000 to underwrite the purchase which enabled them to buy the building,” Teitelbaum said. “We’re not charging any interest on the money. That enabled them to move.”
The original plan was to use the tent only for the end of Ramadan, but Teitelbaum said it remained up as of Saturday. “We’re going to leave it up temporarily,” he said, noting it’s expected to come down soon.
Soumano said they don’t expect to be able to return to their mosque for at least a month, so they’re seeking other options for upcoming weeks.
“People are working inside. We’re going to see how long it will take to finish,” he said. “We’re going to find something.”
One45 Harlem, meanwhile, is moving forward with demolition and construction after the last tenant left the buildings.
The National Action Network, facing potential eviction, in January moved from 106-108 West 145th Street to make way for construction.
“We are in the process of demolition, pulling permits to start construction which we expect to do at the beginning of the summer,” Teitelbaum said.