Congregation Beth Elohim Sanctuary Vies for PIP Grant
Since the announcement of the Partners in Preservation Grant, which will go to the four NYC projects that receive the most votes, Park Slope’s Congregation Beth Elohim, a nominated project, is stepping up its game. CBE is asking for a grant for a comprehensive repair/restoration of the roof, parapets, dome, and stained glass in the…
Since the announcement of the Partners in Preservation Grant, which will go to the four NYC projects that receive the most votes, Park Slope’s Congregation Beth Elohim, a nominated project, is stepping up its game. CBE is asking for a grant for a comprehensive repair/restoration of the roof, parapets, dome, and stained glass in the main sanctuary. They’ve posted some pictures of the windows in the current state on Facebook. As part of CBE’s participation in the contest, there will be an open house this weekend. The architects Henry Grosman and Babak Bryan are creating an art installation in the sanctuary that will also be a musical instrument. There will also be about a dozen musical acts from all over Brooklyn, and students in the synagogue’s many children’s programs will be invited to play the installation as well. It’ll be this Sunday, May 6th, from 2-5 pm. Competition is getting fierce! The top two nominees so far are the Brooklyn Public Library and the Congregation Beth Elohim. Vote for your favorite project right here.
Vote to Preserve NYC Historic Places [Brownstoner]
Anyway, I’ve been voting for the Louis Armstrong House.
AmEx’s Partners in Preservation Grant program is very clear about its rules. Causes that get the most online votes get the grant. If you have a problem with an institution vying for the grant, or with that institution succeeding, vote for someone else. If you want to complain because you don’t like seeing the oldest reformed synagogue in Brooklyn win a grant, go do something worthwhile. But don’t sit in front of your computer, complain about someone’s success and then get all huffy when you get smacked down for it.
AmEx’s Partners in Preservation Grant program is very clear about its rules. Causes that get the most online votes get the grant. If you have a problem with an institution vying for the grant, or with that institution succeeding, vote for someone else. If you want to complain because you don’t like seeing the oldest reformed synagogue in Brooklyn win a grant, go do something worthwhile. But don’t sit in front of your computer, complain about someone’s success and then get all huffy when you get smacked down for it.
I sort of like this pilpul and my people have a proud tradition of it. jbob is doing a great job of holding up his side. One person’s “tedious” is another’s subway distraction.
jbob, do you think only free and/or public institutions should qualify for these grants? And if not, what additional criteria would you employ (as you have conceded that CBE presently meets all the criteria)? Are there bright-line disqualifiers?
I’m still befuddled by the charge of an ethics violation, which I take as something more than an opinion, as I tend to believe there is an objective or at least universal component to ethics The donor selected CBE to compete, with full knowledge of the criteria that you say should disqualify it on the grounds of … lack of ethics? That seems odd to me, if you agree that the donor should have the right to determine where it donates its money.
And just to blow your mind, right now (or last I checked) #5 was the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. So there’s no displacement of a public institution as far as I can see. The grant would just go to another private, member driven and supported entity. Would the Tenement Museum be a worthy recipient? What of the NY Botanical Gardens? Is it unethical for them to organize their membership to vote? Why don’t their members and paid visitors pony up for the renovations they want, rather than imposing their greedy faux naturalistic desires for a man-made cascade on the rest of us?
It’s awesome how valuable you think your approval is.
What is distinguishable is your feeble implication that CBE is unethical, which, to me, undermines your moral authority on the matter.
jbob1, you can’t claim not to be disputing AmEx’s rights and then decry the unjustness of someone who is vying for the grant within the rules AmEx lays out. You seem unable to reconcile the fact that CBE is organized enough to mobilize a competitive effort for the grant, but not necessarily flush enough to have the luxury of saying no to available funds. Your assertion that AmEx is right but CBE is wrong and should handicap itself so a “more deserving” institution wins is best manifest in voting, not claiming that CBE has no business maintaining its current layout.
jbob1, got to tell you, many of the sites/groups on the the list are running campaigns to get the vote out….I personally have received emails from the library and I know people who have received emails from many of the other sites. The only difference, perhaps, between CBE and some of the other sites, is that people who are passionate about CBE are very passionate and are doing what they can to get others to vote. My guess is people who are voting for the library are doing it because its important to them, but they are probably not going out of their way to encourage friends to vote along side them.
Personally I think passion is good, and I think its a testament of that passion that CBE is in lockstep with the Library (which clearly has more “members” and therefore easily more people who could vote for it)
jbob1, got to tell you, many of the sites/groups on the the list are running campaigns to get the vote out….I personally have received emails from the library and I know people who have received emails from many of the other sites. The only difference, perhaps, between CBE and some of the other sites, is that people who are passionate about CBE are very passionate and are doing what they can to get others to vote. My guess is people who are voting for the library are doing it because its important to them, but they are probably not going out of their way to encourage friends to vote along side them.
Personally I think passion is good, and I think its a testament of that passion that CBE is in lockstep with the Library (which clearly has more “members” and therefore easily more people who could vote for it)