A Look Inside Cordoba Prayer Space. Hmm.

So, what’s with all the fire extinguishers?

This guy in the foreground is scaring me.

And, what’s with all the looking around?

Burlington Coat Factory carpet? Yeah, sure. Try, optical illusion to disorient Westerners!

(Update 8/24 1:55 PST: Reading this again, maybe I got a little too “Andy-Kaufman-esque” last night with my attempt at satire, hence the slight revision.  Maybe the subject matter just doesn’t lend itself to making light?  I do greatly admire Tim’s photos, though, which, by accentuating how sparse and mundane this prayer space is, helps to highlight the out-sized paranoid associations and prejudices being projected onto it.)

Photos by “Friend of the Bag,” Tim Fadek.  View the full slideshow at NY Mag. Accompanying article: Muhammad Comes to Manhattan.