Kent Avenue Synagogue: What a Shame
How f’d up is the situation with the makeshift synagogue on Kent Avenue in South Williamsburg? Very. It’s been almost a year since the 17,000-square-foot building was thrown up in a kind of urban barn-raising (200 people working in shifts 24 hours a day for 20 days) during which one worker was seriously injured and…
How f’d up is the situation with the makeshift synagogue on Kent Avenue in South Williamsburg? Very. It’s been almost a year since the 17,000-square-foot building was thrown up in a kind of urban barn-raising (200 people working in shifts 24 hours a day for 20 days) during which one worker was seriously injured and a Stop Work Order was issued. Despite the less-than-exemplary track record during construction, the congregation was able to wrangle a Temporary Place of Assembly permit for 10 dates in September and October of last year, which is when this video was made. (Irony of all ironies: the synagogue is next door to a fire station.) Since last fall, the owner (which is listed on DOB filings as Congregation Kahal Adath Krasna of 1623 44th Street) has not lifted a finger to finish the exterior of the building and has been denying access to buildings inspectors who have received numerous tips that it’s being used illegally as a school. The building has yet to receive a Certificate of Occupancy. Our question is who’s running interference for the synagogue? Is the political clout of the Hasidim so great that they can just skate by for a year in clear violation of fire safety and buildings department regulations with no consequences?
Sin-A-Gog Outrage: This Is Getting Ridiculous [Brownstoner]
Synagogue Needs Some Skin, Baby! [Brownstoner]
GMAP P*Shark DOB
Good story 12:31PM, very good story.
I spoke to some locals around the synagag – one woman told me that they plan to tear this one down when the other is finished, “so why finish this one?”
I also asked why they put cages on their windows… “so the children don’t fall out” then proceeded to yell at me.
anyways…
Let’s face it. The Hasidim knows how to work the system. Look how they destroy the buildings on Eastern Parkway and the Bomber Building across from Pratt. Don’t expect the Hasidim to building anything beautiful or keep the place neat. Just go around Kent Avenue.
Also–this building was thrown up by one brother to spite another brother in a dispute stemming over which one would take over their dad’s congregation. It is not about religion or faith, it is about meanness, and the evidence is that in all this time not one thing has been done to make it safe for the faithful who use it. These crowds are not fighting over the dad’s money–they are looking for a place to practice their faith and traditions. And they are being shown the same dispicable contempt as the rest of the community, secular and frum.
aaa at 11:20–guess again. We’re talking about crimes committed BY the Hasidim. Violating building laws, and the many other white collar crimes their leaders have committed in the housing area, including countless acts of misappropriating city money, are CRIMES. Even if you get away with it, crime is crime. Also, they were not the only folks in this city in the 1970s and 1980s. You sound like a million other racists.
11:13— you sound really jealous ‘king i’
Let’s be real here, if the same Hasidim we’re talking about saved Brooklyn in the 70s and 80s, it was only because there was some benefit in there for them.
11:44 – this has everything to do with the building.
It’s an example of how the Hasidic community as a whole flouts the city, other residents, other races/religions/etc. and shows an utter lack of respect for them in general.
Please don’t say they saved brooklyn in the 70’s and 80’s – that is not true.