Reality TV finalist Francisco Patino steered developer to mosque site near Ground Zero

As if the mosque controversy could not get any weirder, it turns out the person who found the site two blocks from Ground Zero was a teenage reality show contestant from Queens.

Not that young Francisco Patino can really be faulted.

He was just doing the bidding of a real estate developer who hired him in 2006 after chancing to see him on "American Inventor." The show happened to be on a floor-model TV while the developer was shopping at a Sharper Image in Manhattan.


"I saw him on TV and I like him," the developer, Sharif el-Gamal, said Wednesday.

Patino was a 19-year-old immigrant from Colombia who played on the Queens College soccer team and had gotten on the reality show with a dual-passenger bicycle he developed after he and his older brother tried to ride the same one.

He was a decidedly appealing contestant, embracing the spirit of invention and entrepreneurship that made his adopted country great. He appeared crushed when he was voted off in the finals, but a special guest came on the air to urge him on.

"Hey, Francisco, I'm Lance Armstrong. ... I want to wish you luck. ... Live strong!"

Gamal hired Patino and presented him with a map of the Financial District. The teen's orders were to scout out properties that might be suitable for an Islamic community center.

"I told him to go out and find available buildings for the project, and he did," Gamal said. "He's a phenomenal kid. ... He's a good one."

Patino compiled a list that came to include the old Burlington Coat Factory on Park Place. The owner said that by happy chance, it was being shown the following day.

Gamal went to see it and was not at all put off by its proximity to Ground Zero.

"We were looking at buildings all over the area. I liked a lot of them, but this was the one we ended up on," the developer recalled yesterday. "It was just meant to be."

Now 23, Patino declined to comment yesterday, not wishing to speak until he got permission from his boss at Chase Manhattan Bank.

Patino surely was aware of the building's location in relation to Ground Zero. And he surely knew about the war on terror, as the brother who had helped inspire the bicycle, Sergio Cadavid, had gone on to join the Army, serving two tours in Iraq.

Even so, Patino was barely a man in 2006 and had only come to this country when he was 12. No young newcomer could be expected to understand the sensitivities beneath the contradictions.

We solemnly called it hallowed ground and spoke of the importance of remembering the murdered innocents, yet five years after the attack we had yet to build a memorial.

Human remains were still being recovered in 2006 because there had been such a hurry to get traffic on West St. moving again that an area under a service road had not been properly searched.

The Deutsche Bank building on the other side of The Pit was being demolished with such criminal indifference to fire safety that two firefighters eventually would be killed there.

And the Burlington site was available in the first place only because businesses were not answering the call to stand up to the terrorists by relocating downtown.

Patino may not have been aware of any of these particulars, but nobody who walked down Park Place in 2006 could feel the area was being treated as sacred ground. He surely could not have imagined the passions and pain that would be roused four years hence.

Britney Spears tweets from the set of 'Glee'

The buzz surrounding the Britney Spears episode of “Glee” is attempting to go head-to-head with the anticipation for both the Madonna and Lady Gaga themed episodes combined.

Spears fed the fans’ hunger for more details by tweeting,"what's up GLEEKS? Having so much fun on set!! Can't wait for you guys to see the episode!" along with a photo of her on set.

“Glee” creator Ryan Murphy told Ryan Seacrest earlier this month that the Britney scenes would involve dental work and anesthesia, but he didn’t say what role the pop star herself would play.


And although Spears didn't spill any details, we also know that no jabs will be thrown at Spears' tumultuous past.

"It’s about her music, it's not about her personal life,” Murphy told Seacrest. “I think Britney Spears is pop culture. I think she’s been through a lot, and I want to do something that says thank you.”

The bets are already going that "saying thank you" will involve finding a reason for Heather Morris's character Brittany to say, "It's Britney, [expletive.]"

H.S. Teacher Loses Job Over Facebook Posting

A Cohasset teacher, unschooled in the ways of Facebook, learned a stinging lesson this week after she lost her job over comments she put on her page.

The postings on the social networking site were discovered by Cohasset parents on Tuesday, but in just one day they caused such a furor that by Tuesday afternoon the teacher, Dr. June Talvitie-Siple, a supervisor of the high school's math and science program, was forced to resign.

"Clearly, Dr. Siple didn't know how to work Facebook. Maybe she's a great bio teacher, but the Internet is not her thing," said senior Olivia Yerardi.

The teenagers get it, but Siple learned the hard way that her Facebook postings, which were supposed to be private, were not.
"It's not smart, but if you are in professional position, maybe you shouldn't be putting what you really feel about your job or whatever on Facebook," said student Terry MacCormack.

On her Facebook page, Siple called the residents of Cohasset "arrogant and snobby," and said that she is "so not looking forward to another year at Cohasset schools."

As the high school supervisor for math and science, Siple was making more than $92,000 a year.

"I think that's pretty ungrateful, taking that much of the town budget going into the schools, filling up the position, teaching kids when her heart wasn't in to it," said resident Sam Green.

In a telephone interview, Siple said she is not apologizing for her comments, but that she is sorry that they went public. She said she was referring to the political situation in the school, which she called "very stressful," and she said she thought she was only blowing off steam with friends in private.

But back in February, when Siple got sick, she wrote on her page, "Now I remember why I stopped teaching kids. They are all germ bags."

Siple said her Facebook friends knew it was a joke.

"It's horrid. Who says that about children you are teaching, children you are raising that you are a role model for?" said parent Susan Wilcox.

Siple said she honestly thought she had set her Facebook settings on private and she took full responsibility for not doing so.

Ricky Martin to talk sexuality, fatherhood in memoir

Ricky Martin will get personal about livin' la vida loca in his upcoming memoir, Me.

USA TODAY's Cindy Clark reports that the Grammy-Award winning artist opens up for the first time about his early childhood, his experiences as a member of the boy band Menudo, and coming to terms with his sexuality. Martin also talks about being a father and his work with children around the world.

Both English- and Spanish-language editions, called Me and Yo respectively, will be published in hardcover on Nov. 2 from Celebra, a division of Penguin Group.