Bloomberg Won't Back Down on Mosque Stance

"We would undercut the values and principles that so many heroes died protecting," Bloomberg said at the dinner Tuesday in observance of Iftar, the breaking of the daily fast during Ramadan.

The mayor said he understood the "impulse to find another location for the mosque" but a compromise won't end the debate.

"The question will then become how big should the no-mosque zone around the World Trade Center be," Bloomberg said. "There is already a mosque four blocks away. Should it, too, be moved?"

Sharif el-Gamal, the mosque site's developer, and Daisy Khan, a co-founder of the group planning the mosque, were also at the dinner attended by about 100 people, including members of the Muslim community and city officials such as police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

After Bloomberg spoke, el-Gamal said he was "very honored and blessed" to be an American and a New Yorker.

"Mayor Bloomberg's speech embodied the values and the mores that we as Muslim Americans live and cherish," el-Gamal said.

Khan said Bloomberg "delivered a passionate speech in defense of our deep American values."