Manhattan, NY - J.P. Morgan's Old Haunt To Become Manhattan's New Ashkenazi Synagogue

Manhattan, NY - A new Orthodox synagogue is planned for Midtown Manhattan, not far from Bloomingdales and many luxury hotels.

The ambitious project will be the first new Ashkenazi, Orthodox synagogue to be created in Manhattan for decades. While Brooklyn and Bronx both have large concentrations of Orthodox Jews, in Manhattan Orthodox rabbis have grown accustomed to dwindling numbers of worshipers.

‪The financial undertaking of such a project is also nearly astronomical in the frame of reference of the Orthodox community. The total cost of the new synagogue is estimated at about $35 million: $21 million to purchase the six-story building on East 58th St. in which the New York Synagogue has been renting space since 2003, and the remainder to pay for the renovations. "It's a famous building built by the legendary American banker J.P. Morgan, which is considered to be part of the history of Manhattan," Rabbi Marc Schneier of the New York Synagogue explained. "The plan is to preserve the original facade, which is an architectural treasure, but to gut the inside and rebuild it into a beautiful synagogue."
The proximity of the building to some of the most famous luxury hotels in Manhattan is important to Schneier. The synagogue is also intended to serve its affiliate, the members of Schneier's Hampton Synagogue, Orthodox Jews working in Midtown and tourists staying at neighborhood hotels.

But Manhattan's Orthodox community is not happy about Schneier's plans. His temporary synagogue in the building has funneled worshipers, especially young ones, away from older synagogues in the area, with its extensive schedule of worship services featuring well-known cantors.