New Shirley mosque will be second-largest on Long Island

When James Abdul-Lateef Poulos started to study Islam in the mid-1980s, he had a hard time finding a mosque on Long Island, he said. There were only four.

Today, there are 40, underscoring the steady growth of the Muslim community from Valley Stream to the Hamptons, he said. Now, several new ones are going up, including two that will be the largest on Long Island.

Groundbreaking is set for Sunday on a 34,000-square-foot mosque in Shirley that is being spearheaded in part by a new, younger generation of Muslims. It will be the second-largest in the region.

The largest, the Islamic Center of Melville, at 45,000 square feet, had a "soft opening" a year ago, leaders said. It should have its final touches done by the end of this year, followed by a grand opening.

In Suffolk County alone, new mosques also have been built recently or are nearing completion in Dix Hills, Wyandanch, Mount Sinai and Medford-Coram, Poulus said.

"It’s great" that mosques now dot Long Island, said Poulus, who converted to Islam, became a founder of the Shirley mosque and an imam, or spiritual leader, there. Long Island is now home to at least 100,000 Muslims, community leaders said.

The Islamic Center of Shirley-Mastic mosque has grown from 40 families when it was founded in 2002 to about 400 today, said Poulos, who also is a chaplain with the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department. They come from neighboring communities as far as Ridge and Manorville, said Imam Mehdad Islam, another leader of the mosque.

 The groundbreaking ceremony is expected to attract officials, including Brookhaven Town Supervisor Dan Panico.

The Muslim community is growing partly because many Muslims, like other immigrant groups before them, are moving out of New York City for the suburban life with more space and good schools, Imam said. 

Like most Muslim communities on Long Island, the faithful in Shirley started worshipping in a house they bought. They’ve outgrown it and now need a full-fledged mosque.

The new facility on William Floyd Parkway will have a prayer room, classrooms, a library and a gym. "We want to have a decent prayer space for the growing Muslim community," said Islam, who also is a chaplain for the Suffolk County Police Department.

The group hopes to open its indoor basketball court to outside groups and operate a large food pantry to assist the community, he said.

"We want to show the community and the world at large that we're not just here catering to the Muslim community," he said.

Unlike some mosques in Nassau County that have had friction with Island officials as they tried to expand, Islam said the process had gone smoothly for the Shirley mosque. He attributed that to the group’s good relations with officials, immediate neighbors, civic organizations and the community in general. They also will have plenty of parking — up to 200 spots.

Brookhaven Town "unanimously approved this project without a blink of an eye because they see how inclusive we are and to our neighbors," he said. "The relationship has been positive throughout the entire Shirley Mastic community."

Panico did not respond to requests for comment.

Donato Sangemino, a well-known community activist, said that although some residents grumbled about the new mosque, most were supportive.

"I think it’s great," he said. "There are a lot of great community members that are part of that mosque. They’re just regular neighbors that shop with us, work with us, eat in the same restaurants that we eat in."

"There is a great amount of community support," Sangemino added.

A younger generation of tech-savvy Muslims who were raised in the United States also has helped with things such as fundraising, Islam said.

"They have Instagram skills, they have TikTok skills, and I'm using their skill sets to advertise for the fundraising of this project," he said. "Youngsters find it very comfortable to volunteer because their voices are heard, their suggestions are taken, and their ideas are implemented."

The project will end up costing about $6 million, some of it raised from Muslims in Shirley but the bulk coming from members of other mosques on Long Island, Islam said. He has visited many of them to make appeals during their Friday prayers services.