The destroyer of the mosque will be Sharif El-Gamel, the same real-estate developer who created such a furor when he established it as part of a proposed Islamic cultural center four years ago. Haters back then called it “mosque madness” and “Islamic domination and expansionism.” Former Mayor Giuliani denounced it as a “desecration.” Palin tweeted, “peaceful Muslims, pls refudiate.”

El-Gamel had remained steadfast, insisting that he had been inspired by the Jewish Community Center on the Upper West Side and only hoped to bring different faiths together. He even seemed on his way to prevailing as the uproar died down and outrage sputtered into grudging acceptance.

He is still a developer. And to be one he needs money. He now seems to be abandoning that dream because of a lack of financial support from the Muslim community.

“He couldn’t raise the funds,” says a consultant who worked closely with him in the past.