Friday, January 29, 2010

Sixth Street's Congregation Mezritch Synagogue spared from glassy fate?


This just in from the The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP)...

NYS Historic Preservation Office, in response to an application from GVSHP, has ruled that the Congregation Mezritch Synagogue on Sixth Street between Avenue A and First Avenue qualifies for listing on the State and National Register of Historic Places. As the GVSHP notes, "While State and National Register listing does not prevent demolition of historic buildings, it does offer tax breaks and other financial incentives for preservation of historic structures."

Per an e-mail from the GVSHP:

The 1910 Congregation Mezritch Synagogue is the East Village’s last operating ‘tenement synagogue,’ so called because they occupied narrow tenement-sized lots and served residents of the surrounding tenements. This striking neo-classical style structure was supposed to be demolished in 2008 when GVSHP and the East Village Community Coalition staged public protests to save it and called upon the LPC to landmark the building. While the LPC did not, following the protests the developer of the condo which would have replaced the building backed out of the deal. The building was saved temporarily, but its ultimate fate is far from clear. GVSHP is completing a historic resources survey of the entire East Village, which will allow us to make strong arguments and recommendations for landmark protections throughout the East Village.


For further reading:
Proposed New East Village Synagogue Looks Suspiciously Like Apartment Building

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