Reconsider the Bayshore Academy vote and reject Islamophobia
The Issue
We call upon the Town of Islip to use every lawful mechanism available to reconsider the decision blocking student boarding at the proposed Bayshore Academy and to take concrete action against Islamophobia in local government and land-use proceedings.
On September 22, 2026, the Town of Islip Zoning Board of Appeals voted 3–1 that boarding students is not a permitted accessory use to a parochial school at 26 South Saxon Avenue in Bay Shore.
This property is a nearly 14-acre former Catholic seminary and boys’ boarding-school campus. It was purchased for approximately $5 million by the United American Muslim Association, which plans to establish Bayshore Academy—an Islamic school serving approximately 120 male students in grades 7 through 12.
There is a troubling inconsistency when a property that historically housed a Catholic seminary and boarding school is considered unsuitable for student boarding after being purchased by a Muslim organization.
The Town’s Building Division had previously determined that boarding could qualify as an accessory use to a parochial school if it remained incidental and subordinate to the school’s educational mission. That interpretation was appealed by neighboring property owners and ultimately rejected by the Zoning Board.
Residents have every right to raise legitimate concerns about traffic, noise, safety, enrollment, and neighborhood impact. Those concerns should be addressed through evidence-based conditions such as enrollment limits, traffic-management requirements, restrictions on events, delivery schedules, noise controls, and safety plans.
However, legitimate zoning concerns must not become a cover for religious prejudice.
Reporting surrounding the public hearing documented anti-Muslim rhetoric—including comments connecting a local Islamic school to foreign conflicts and online statements describing Islam as an “infestation” or an attempt to “colonize” America. Even when such statements come from private residents, the Town has a responsibility to ensure that they do not influence government decisions.
There is a bitter irony here. Congress unanimously enacted the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act in 2000 because local zoning powers had too often been used to exclude or burden religious communities.
RLUIPA does not place religious institutions above the law. It requires that zoning laws be applied equally, without discrimination, and without imposing unjustified burdens on religious exercise.
Religious freedom cannot apply only to established or politically popular faiths. Muslims are entitled to the same constitutional protections, dignity, and presumption of good faith as Catholics, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, and every other religious community.
We therefore call upon the Town of Islip to:
1. Have a Zoning Board member move for a lawful rehearing of the 3–1 decision and reconsider whether supervised student housing can be permitted with reasonable conditions.
2. Commission an independent review of the decision under RLUIPA, the First Amendment, and applicable New York civil-rights protections.
3. Publish clear written findings explaining how the proposed Islamic school was compared with the property’s previous Catholic uses and with comparable religious, educational, and residential institutions.
4. Meet with the United American Muslim Association and neighboring residents to develop enforceable solutions addressing traffic, noise, safety, occupancy, events, and other legitimate concerns.
5. Publicly condemn the anti-Muslim rhetoric surrounding this matter and make clear that Islamophobia has no place in the Town of Islip.
6. Adopt anti-discrimination and religious-land-use training for members of the Zoning Board, Planning Board, Building Division, and other officials involved in land-use decisions.
7. Establish a transparent equal-treatment policy for all future applications involving houses of worship, religious schools, and faith-based institutions.
We are not asking the Town to provide special treatment.
We are asking for equal treatment.
The Town of Islip should respond to community concerns through objective safeguards—not through a blanket decision that creates the appearance that a use historically associated with a Catholic institution becomes unacceptable when proposed by a Muslim institution.
We urge the Town to reconsider this decision, protect religious liberty, and demonstrate through meaningful action that Islamophobia will never determine who is welcomed, who may worship, or who may educate their children in Islip.
Please sign this petition to demand fairness, transparency, and equal religious freedom for every community.
SOURCES:
Newsday:
https://www.newsday.com/long-island/religion/saxon-avenue-muslim-school-bay-shore-b79p0a7r
Town of Islip Zoning Board agenda:
U.S. Department of Justice—RLUIPA protections:
https://www.justice.gov/crt/place-worship-initiative-what-rluipa
226
The Issue
We call upon the Town of Islip to use every lawful mechanism available to reconsider the decision blocking student boarding at the proposed Bayshore Academy and to take concrete action against Islamophobia in local government and land-use proceedings.
On September 22, 2026, the Town of Islip Zoning Board of Appeals voted 3–1 that boarding students is not a permitted accessory use to a parochial school at 26 South Saxon Avenue in Bay Shore.
This property is a nearly 14-acre former Catholic seminary and boys’ boarding-school campus. It was purchased for approximately $5 million by the United American Muslim Association, which plans to establish Bayshore Academy—an Islamic school serving approximately 120 male students in grades 7 through 12.
There is a troubling inconsistency when a property that historically housed a Catholic seminary and boarding school is considered unsuitable for student boarding after being purchased by a Muslim organization.
The Town’s Building Division had previously determined that boarding could qualify as an accessory use to a parochial school if it remained incidental and subordinate to the school’s educational mission. That interpretation was appealed by neighboring property owners and ultimately rejected by the Zoning Board.
Residents have every right to raise legitimate concerns about traffic, noise, safety, enrollment, and neighborhood impact. Those concerns should be addressed through evidence-based conditions such as enrollment limits, traffic-management requirements, restrictions on events, delivery schedules, noise controls, and safety plans.
However, legitimate zoning concerns must not become a cover for religious prejudice.
Reporting surrounding the public hearing documented anti-Muslim rhetoric—including comments connecting a local Islamic school to foreign conflicts and online statements describing Islam as an “infestation” or an attempt to “colonize” America. Even when such statements come from private residents, the Town has a responsibility to ensure that they do not influence government decisions.
There is a bitter irony here. Congress unanimously enacted the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act in 2000 because local zoning powers had too often been used to exclude or burden religious communities.
RLUIPA does not place religious institutions above the law. It requires that zoning laws be applied equally, without discrimination, and without imposing unjustified burdens on religious exercise.
Religious freedom cannot apply only to established or politically popular faiths. Muslims are entitled to the same constitutional protections, dignity, and presumption of good faith as Catholics, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, and every other religious community.
We therefore call upon the Town of Islip to:
1. Have a Zoning Board member move for a lawful rehearing of the 3–1 decision and reconsider whether supervised student housing can be permitted with reasonable conditions.
2. Commission an independent review of the decision under RLUIPA, the First Amendment, and applicable New York civil-rights protections.
3. Publish clear written findings explaining how the proposed Islamic school was compared with the property’s previous Catholic uses and with comparable religious, educational, and residential institutions.
4. Meet with the United American Muslim Association and neighboring residents to develop enforceable solutions addressing traffic, noise, safety, occupancy, events, and other legitimate concerns.
5. Publicly condemn the anti-Muslim rhetoric surrounding this matter and make clear that Islamophobia has no place in the Town of Islip.
6. Adopt anti-discrimination and religious-land-use training for members of the Zoning Board, Planning Board, Building Division, and other officials involved in land-use decisions.
7. Establish a transparent equal-treatment policy for all future applications involving houses of worship, religious schools, and faith-based institutions.
We are not asking the Town to provide special treatment.
We are asking for equal treatment.
The Town of Islip should respond to community concerns through objective safeguards—not through a blanket decision that creates the appearance that a use historically associated with a Catholic institution becomes unacceptable when proposed by a Muslim institution.
We urge the Town to reconsider this decision, protect religious liberty, and demonstrate through meaningful action that Islamophobia will never determine who is welcomed, who may worship, or who may educate their children in Islip.
Please sign this petition to demand fairness, transparency, and equal religious freedom for every community.
SOURCES:
Newsday:
https://www.newsday.com/long-island/religion/saxon-avenue-muslim-school-bay-shore-b79p0a7r
Town of Islip Zoning Board agenda:
U.S. Department of Justice—RLUIPA protections:
https://www.justice.gov/crt/place-worship-initiative-what-rluipa
The Decision Makers
Petition Updates
Share this petition
Petition created on September 23, 2026