A Muslim group quietly prays near Ground Zero

Barely visible among the high-rise apartment buildings and cocktail lounges, a battered steel door in Manhattan's trendy Tribeca neighborhood leads to a basement jammed with barefoot men praying on their lunch break.

The makeshift mosque is a far cry from the proposed 13-story Cordoba House, the so-called Ground Zero mosque that would be two blocks closer to the busy construction site where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once stood. And the leaders of Masjid Manhattan want to keep it that way. "We are not involved with that other group," said Imam Mustafa Elazabawy, raising his voice just loud enough to be heard above the din of the air conditioner, but not loud enough to disturb the Arabic recitations. "We have been here for 30 years, in this neighborhood. Many Muslims also died over there, on 9/11."

Ever since Masjid Manhattan lost its lease on nearby Warren Street in 2008, members have struggled to find a more suitable space for daily prayers. They've also tried to keep a low profile, clearly nervous about prompting the kind of outcry that has plagued the planned Cordoba House project.