via Newsday.com
Published: June 30, 2011 4:53 PM
By MARIA ALVAREZ maria.alvarez@newsday.com
To commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11, 5,000 walkers from across the
city, Long Island and New Jersey are expected to walk to Ground Zero in a
symbolic gesture of healing.
Dubbed the “mega walk” it is being organized by six interfaith church
groups and various community and educational organizations from across the
tri-state area.
The walk’s mission is “to reverse the path that fleeing New Yorkers were
forced to take a decade ago,” said the Rev. Katharine Henderson, president
of the Auburn Theological Seminary, who announced the interfaith walk
Thursday morning in Manhattan.
The coalition of six interfaith groups which calls the walking initiative
“Prepare New York” is being organized to counter potential anti-Muslim
sentiment, she said.
“Last fall we saw a crisis of prejudice and hatred against
Muslim-Americans,” said Henderson, referring to the announced plans to
build a mosque and community center near Ground Zero last year.
The plan triggered dozens of protests against the mosque, claiming it was
inappropriate to open a Muslim community center and mosque near Ground Zero.
The walk will help “combat religious intolerance and help continue our work
of bridge building,” said Henderson.
Other programs leading up to the walk include “coffee hour” events to be
hosted by church groups, schools and colleges such as St. Paul’s Chapel of
Trinity Church; Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service, and
the Bank Street School for Children.
