Excerpt:
A Roman Catholic parish in New York City on Thursday voted against selling one of its properties to a Muslim organization that planned to erect a mosque there, yielding to local residents' opposition.
The Staten Island parish's decision against the sale of its abandoned convent to the Muslim American Society comes as a another proposed mosque faces criticism for being located too close to the site of the September 11, 2001, attacks in Manhattan.
The Rev. Keith Fennessy, leader of the Saint Margaret Mary parish on the borough of Staten Island, had chosen in June to back away from the sale. On Thursday, the parish board approved his decision.