Two nights ago Woody Allen spoke about the Ground Zero mosque issue with N.Y. Daily News “Gatecrasher” columnist Frank DiGiacomo at a Manhattan event for You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger. “Of course I think they should build the mosque,” he said, “[but] the only people who have a right to weigh in are the people that were personally involved in 9/11.

“The people who lost friends or relatives have every right to protest and say what they want to say. All of the other people weighing in” are doing so for “political and exploitation reasons. I feel those people should shut up and just let the people who were personally affected make their case.

“If I was speaking to the people who are protesting legitimately, I would try to convince them, if I could, that building the mosque takes a step toward eliminating this kind of thing from happening again. Preventing the mosque from being built is not a step in the right direction.”

DiGiacomo asked Allen asked Allen if he has a bucket list of things he’d like to do before he dies. “Yes, and one of them is [to] live longer,” the director responded. “That’s at the head of the list.”