Smart move... but let's be honest about why:

New York officials have rejected Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's request to lay a wreath at the World Trade Center site when he visits next week.

Police spokesman Paul Browne said Ahmadinejad, who arrives Sunday to address the United Nations' General Assembly, was turned down because of the construction work.

"Requests for the Iranian president to visit the immediate area would also be opposed by the NYPD on security grounds," he said.

It wasn't because of the construction work.  It's because Iran sponsors terrorism, and the man is a monster who promotes it.  But hey, at least he was politically correct enough to offer to lay a wreath... and then we were politically correct enough to lie about why we refused.  Isn't diplomacy grand?

Update:  Via Badger Blogger comes this news that he's planning on going anyway:

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad requested to visit Ground Zero during an upcoming trip to New York. That request was rejected Wednesday. But a source tells Eyewitness News that the decision may not stop him.

A law enforcement source says the Iranian mission to the United Nations has informed the Secret Service that the Iranian president intends to visit Ground Zero Monday at 10 a.m.

The source says regardless of the NYPD's rejection of the request for a Ground Zero tour, Iran's president and his entourage will be accompanied by a Secret Service protective detail, a detail provided to all heads of state when they visit the United States.

It's one of the hardest pills to swallow when the freedoms that the United States are offered are used against us this way.