Debate over whether a mosque will be built only two blocks away from Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan is heating up following a Tuesday hearing on the issue.

Some 100 opponents of the mosque packed a hearing today with New York City's Landmark Preservation Commission who have been asked to determine whether the proposed building on Park Place should be declared a historical site.

Among the testifiers was Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio, who earlier this month called on his Democratic rival Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to investigate the sources of funding for the $100 million project, which is being headed by the American Society for Muslim Advancement and the Cordoba Initiative.

The organizing groups, who claim that the 13-story building will not be a mosque but an interfaith community center, reportedly have ties to the organizers of May's Gaza flotilla, which some claim was carrying anti-Israel terrorists.

"New Yorkers have a right to feel safe and be safe," Lazio said earlier this month. "There are serious security questions about the appropriateness of this mosque."

Cuomo, meanwhile, has accused Lazio of Islamophobia and defended the building of the center based on religious freedom rights.

"What are we about if not religious freedom? What is this country about if not religious freedom? What is this state about if not religious freedom," he said.

Cuomo's comments echo those of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who on Monday called an investigation into the proposed mosque "un-American."

"That is just so out of character for what this nation stands for and the way we conduct ourselves," Bloomberg said.

Meanwhile, Rep. Peter King of the House Homeland Security Committee told the Associated Press on Tuesday that he is in favor of an investigation.

"It's a house of worship, but we are at war with al-Qaida," King told the AP. "I think the 9/11 families have a right to know where the funding comes from; I think there are significant questions."

King added that he sees the timing of the project is inappropriate and of "bad form."

"There are things you are allowed to do, but that aren't appropriate to do," he said.