Congregation Shearith Israel: A Victory for Community Against Tower Proposal

From Landmark West! First things first. Before you get the story on last night’s Community Board 7 (CB7) vote, you need to put down your poultry shears and open up your calendar. Mark down Tuesday, November 27, at 1:30 PM for the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) public hearing at 40 Rector Street, 9th […]

Congregation Shearith Israel is Back!

IMPORTANT REMINDER! Please don’t miss this opportunity to join your neighbors in holding the line against out-of-scale development in the Upper West Side/Central Park West Historic District. Showing up is just as important as speaking up, so please make every effort to attend CB7’S meeting on Monday! Round 2 for Congregation Shearith Israel Tower Plan […]

Round 2 for Congregation Shearith Israel Tower Plan at Community Board 7

From Landmark West! Monday, November 19, at 7:00 PM is an important opportunity to make your voice heard before Community Board 7’s (CB 7’s) Land Use Committee as it considers Congregation Shearith Israel’s application to construct a 105′-tall building stacking 5 floors of luxury condos on top of a new community house on the brownstone-scale […]

Community Reaction to Press Praise of South Slope Blockbuster

From Aaron Brashear, Concerned Citizens of Greenwood [email protected] To the Editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, While I can appreciate your paper’s want to highlight new residential development in the borough of Brooklyn, I feel you have made a grave mistake in publishing what reads as a complete shilling for 162 16th Street, aka “The […]

No Action, But Many Questions at Community Meeting on Congregation Shearith Israel's Development Plans

Community Board 7 (CB7) did not vote at last night’s “informational” meeting, a misnomer since more questions than answers emerged about Congregation Shearith Israel’s (CSI’s) plans to build a 105′-tall building, including five floors of luxury condos stacked on top of a new community house, on the low-rise, brownstone-scale midblock of West 70th Street. No […]

Congregation Shearith Israel Back at CB 7

Congregation Shearith Israel (CSI) wants to erect a 105’-tall luxury condo building behind its Landmark synagogue on West 70th Street, in the heart of the Upper West Side/Central Park West Historic District. The proposed building is more than twice the height of the brownstones that define this historic block. Such an out-of-place building requires at […]

Cutting Off The Finger?

From Philip DePaolo, [email protected] Board of Standards and Appeals public hearing on 144 N. Eighth St. (a.k.a. the “Finger Building”). BSA offices (40 Rector St., between Washington Street and the West Side Highway, in Manhattan, sixth floor), Oct. 16, 10 am. Call (212) 788-8547 for information. In 2004, Mendel Brach and a partner, paid $7 […]

Spanish-Portuguese Synagogue Development Returns

From Landmark West! (http://www.landmarkwest.org/): After more than a year of watching and waiting, Congregation Shearith Israel (CSI) is back with its controversial plan to develop 5 stories of luxury condos on top of a new community house at 8 West 70th Street. Community Board 7’s Land Use Committee will hold a public meeting to discuss […]

Meanwhile, Uptown at the Spanish-Portugese Synagogue

A Classical Gem Off Central Park WestAbroad in New YorkBY FRANCIS MORRONESeptember 20, 2007URL: http://www.nysun.com/article/63075 In the hot Manhattan real estate market, nonprofit institutions are seeking to increase revenues by exploiting air rights. One high-profile example is Congregation Shearith Israel on the Upper West Side, which hopes the city will grant permission to allow for […]

Development Looming Over the New-York Historical Society

From Landmark West!: This much is certain, whether it is this year, next year or 5 years from now, the Society intends to move forward with its “Phase 2” tower plan. Here is the question: When will the Society face the community, reveal its plans, and begin the dialogue it evaded in the first round? […]