Yet Another Unsolicited Bid To Buy Cordoba House Property
First Donald Trump came in with his open letter to make an unsolicited bid to buy the property that would be the future home to the Cordoba House/Park51 community center/mosque.
Today comes word of another unsolicited bid. This time, it’s from the Russian head of the World Chess Federation who claims he’d pay $10 million for the property.
There’s no word on whether either Trump or Ilyumzhinov actually have any intention to buy the property or whether this is a publicity stunt. Given Trump’s past history, I’d say he’s in it for the publicity (he had previously called for a rebuilding of the Twin Towers at Ground Zero under his aegis, but that was little more than vaporware).The eccentric Russian head of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) on Thursday announced a $10 million bid to buy the site of a controversial mosque project near Ground Zero in New York.
Kirsan Ilyumzhinov said he sent a letter on FIDE’s behalf to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg “with an offer to buy this land for $10 million,” the RIA Novosti news agency reported.
The land near the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks would be used for an international chess center and academy, Ilyumzhinov said.
“We named the sum of $10 million because last week billionaire Donald Trump gave an offer of $7.5 million and we decided to outdo him,” RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.