The condo conversion continues at the landmarked Congregation Mezritch Synagogue on East Sixth Street between First Avenue and Avenue A ... construction signage arrived last week, though various crews and contractors have been on the scene dating to the spring...
A reader also noted a few pieces of broken furniture (left in front of the neighboring building) a rusted dumpster with a hole ...
... and discarded prayer books ...
The DOB approved the interior demolition in June. On July 29, the DOB disapproved the following:
CHANGE OF USE, OCCUPANCY, AND EGRESS FROM THE EXISTING CELLAR, 1ST, 2ND & 3RD FLOOR, AND CREATE NEW 4TH FLOOR & 5TH FLOOR, OVER EXISTING ROOF, AS PER PLANS FILED.
As previously noted, the historic building was in bad shape and the congregation has apparently dwindled. Synagogue leaders reportedly signed a 99-year lease with East River Partners worth some $1.2 million. The renovations include a penthouse addition and an elevator. The synagogue will reportedly retain space on the ground floor and basement for their use.
Rabbi Paul (Pesach) Ackerman, the popular longtime rabbi of the synagogue, died in June from complications of pneumonia, The Villager reported. He was 84.
Per this article:
In his final days, Ackerman was instrumental in working out a development deal for the badly deteriorating synagogue building that will revitalize the landmarked structure and also guarantee that space will be reserved there for the synagogue for the next 99 years.
Previously on EV Grieve:
Plan to add condos to historic East Sixth Street synagogue back on
Play spot the potential penthouse atop the East Village synagogue
I had a lovely nodding acquaintance with my neighbor Rabbi Ackerman over the last 20 or so years. So sorry to hear that he passed. I hope his final wishes for the synagogue are realized.
ReplyDeleteWow, at least the Rabbi may have been able to die in peace knowing he had fulfilled some important work in the end.
ReplyDeleteThis makes me queasy. There are rules in Jewish law for disposing of old texts, and dumping them on the street is NOT IT.
ReplyDeleteEVG--Whats a "synagouge"?
ReplyDelete@ anon 12:32
ReplyDeleteSynagouge was a synth-pop band from Brussels who released a few 12-inch singles in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Very obscure!
Also, it's a terrible typo!
A Synagogue is a a new trendy eatery coming soon to your neighborhood. It'll be specializing in farm-to-table artisanal hand-made pickled herring Halva/Kugel/Hamantashen/Mandlach/P'tcha with ingredients locally sourced from the five corners of the Star of David, and the Dead Sea, Red Sea, and the Jordan River, served in a Torah paper. Its servers will be dressed black pants, black shoes, a white shirt, tie, a black kippah over which they wear a borsolino hat. Same with its chef except he'll be wearing a special Tallit on Shabbos.
ReplyDeleteThen they will have specialized cocktail drinks such as: Kahuna and Cream; Babba Kamma-kazi; Shomer-Sangria; Tefillah Slurrer. whipped-out by a James Beard award winner mixologist (emphasized on the beard, which he will have plenty of it, of course) and the mixologist's attire will be wearing a kippah and tzit-tzit, and khaki pants (instead of black pants) and a polo shirt (instead of Shul). It'll be mishegas. Oy vey. feh!
And that trendy new eatery is named Synagouge.
ReplyDeleteTypo on a typo.
Per Marjorie above, that is quite correct. Many of the texts typically found in a temple should in fact be buried, if one wishes to respect traditional Jewish law and tradition. If they are what I think they are, it is quite shocking to simply throw them in the trash.
ReplyDeleteUnless one is "reformed" Jewish, of course, in which case I think they can be used as wrappers for Italian Sausage.
It is worth noting, although it's likely NOT the case here, but many synagogues usually have a quite a collection of books - many being religious texts and many simply being secular books in Yiddish or Hebrew. The religious texts should be buried or used else where if they're in good condition. Those that aren't religious can be thrown out, although given the amount of people who might be interested they probably be given away or donated.
ReplyDelete