WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate’s senior  Democrat broke with President Barack Obama yesterday over the  proposed Muslim cultural center and mosque in New York City,  with Senator Harry Reid saying it should be built elsewhere.

The project, planned near the “ground zero” site of the  Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in New York, has emerged as an emotional  issue 2-1/2 months before U.S. congressional elections in which  Republicans are trying to take back control of Congress from  Obama’s fellow Democrats. Reid is in a tight contest for  re-election against a very conservative Republican challenger.

“The First Amendment (of the U.S. Constitution) protects  freedom of religion. Senator Reid respects that but thinks that  the mosque should be built someplace else,” said Reid spokesman  Jim Manley.

The projects backers vowed on Monday to press ahead with  their plans and denied a report in Israeli newspaper Haaretz  that they will scrap the $100 million project, which has  generated fierce debate.

Sharif El-Gamal, the owner of the building where the  Cordoba House would be located, said a report that the center  would be relocated further from Ground Zero, reported in  Israeli newspaper Haaretz  on Monday, was false.

“Everything is on track and we are moving forward with the  location,” said El-Gamal, chief executive of Soho Properties,  which owns the building.

Haaretz reported that leaders agreed to abandon the site to  prevent an escalation of anti-Muslim sentiment.

The proposal, announced this spring, has caused an uproar  among many New Yorkers, who feel the location of the center is  insensitive to the memory of the nearly 3,000 people who died  in the Sept. 11 attacks.

On Friday, the debate over the construction of the Muslim  center intensified when President Barack Obama said he  supported the right of Muslims to build there.

A day later, amid a political backlash, Obama said he was  not commenting on “the wisdom of making a decision to put a  mosque there.” Instead, he said he was “commenting very  specifically on the right people have that dates back to our  founding.”

The proposed 13-story building, which has gotten the  go-ahead from a New York City agency, would include meeting  rooms, a prayer space, an auditorium and swimming pool.

The families of some victims of the Sept. 11 attack on the  World Trade Center have been vehemently opposed to the  construction of a Muslim center so close to Ground Zero.

Close to 60 percent of Americans oppose the plan, although  supporters say having the Islamic cultural center is a chance  to promote understanding of the religion and begin healing  nearly a decade after the attacks.