This looks as if what the town officials are most afraid of is being accused of “Islamophobia.” And so they’re allowing an illegal graveyard that they would almost certainly stop if any other group were behind it.
“NY town won’t shut down Muslim graveyard,” from AP, October 14 (thanks to Twostellas):
[…] Tom Schimmerling, lawyer for the 30-member Sufi community 130 miles northwest of New York City, said he received a letter from Sidney town lawyer Joseph Ermeti saying the town had decided not to take action.
In the letter, which Schimmerling showed to The Associated Press, Ermeti said he had researched state and local laws regarding the two burials on the Muslim community’s 50-acre farm. “This letter is to inform you that no action will be taken by the Town of Sidney in this matter.”
He stopped short of saying the graveyard was legal. Hans Hass, a spokesman for the Sufi Muslim community, said they want an apology and a statement that the cemetery is legal.
Hass has said anti-Islamic bigotry motivated a town board vote in August to try to shut down the cemetery. He said he has a zoning board document saying the cemetery is legal.
Town Supervisor Bob McCarthy didn’t immediately return a call Wednesday. He has previously said that the graveyard was illegal and bigotry had nothing to do with it.