Because the extended surrounding area includes businesses like strip clubs and betting parlors. Which were apparently there before the attacks. And, I’d point out, neither strippers nor bookies perpetrated the 9/11 attacks.

Here’s the odd part: As Ace says, Rauf insists there’s nothing particularly special about Ground Zero. Except when he’s defending his decision to build there by invoking religious dialogue, at which point he says he’s building there specifically because it’s a special location.