CSI and BSA: A Love Story

After over five years of public hearings and community meetings and seemingly endless paperwork, the Board of Standards and Appeals has finally approved 7 special variances so that Congregation Shearith Israel can build a luxury condo-filled monstrosity behind its 1897, doubly-landmarked* structure.

Rendering by ProtectWest70.org

The purpose of the new structure? To raise funds for the struggling non-profit religious institution, of course. But one has to wonder: will the expectedly super-high rents for these new condos ever make up for the past five years of paying lawyers and architects and [cough] theboardofstandardsandappeals [cough]? Just kidding about that last one. But seriously, one question should come to mind when non-profit institutions start considering luxury condos as a remedy for their financial difficulties: is it worth it? The legal fees alone (not to mention being despised by the surrounding community) would make me think no. More wine and cheese fundraisers, it is.

I won't consider this controversy over until construction begins, but I worry that granting seven special variances to one non-profit will mean granting who-knows-how-many special variances to other non-profits. Churches and synagogues and museums and historical societies will be shadowed (literally) by their own special glass towers.

For more information on the saga, visit ProtectWest70.org

*Congregation Shearith Israel (The Spanish-Portuguese Synagogue) is both part of the Upper West Side/Central Park West historic district and an individual landmark.