Background
On Wednesday, July 23rd, without prior notice or complaint, the NYC Department of Buildings (DOB) conducted a surprise inspection of our property. The inspection, triggered not by concerns about our building but by unrelated construction next door, has resulted in a series of emergency orders and enforcement actions that threaten both our building and our financial stability.
Despite our full cooperation and long-standing commitment to safety and stewardship, the DOB is now requiring us to:
- Vacate key areas of our building, including our Sukkah courtyard, and the downstairs children’s play area, used daily by our daycare and event programs;
- Install a custom 110’ construction fence along our 187th street façade, with an estimated cost of over $20,000, and a 17’ sidewalk shed (~$25,000) in our play area, within two business days—or face the city doing so on our behalf at triple the cost;
- Commission a new structural rebar report, rejecting a certified 2020 report that found no issues;
- Hire a licensed NYS structural engineer immediately to prepare and file a full corrective action plan;
- And, most egregiously, they scheduled our required court hearing for Yom Kippur of all possible dates.
The issues cited (including cracked plexiglass over stained-glass windows, chipped decorative masonry, and minor tiling wear) are real, and we are committed to resolving them. But these disproportionate emergency work orders, imposing a two-day timeline with no funding support or sufficient time to address superficial issues, place an unbearable burden on our small synagogue and modest budget. We are facing tens of thousands of dollars in emergency costs, on top of legal and engineering fees, that do not even begin to address the actual issues in question, and we cannot do this alone.
It is not lost on us that all of this is unfolding during the Three Weeks, just as we enter into the Nine Days, a period marked by mourning and reflection over the destruction of our Temple and the vulnerability of our sacred institutions throughout history. We are being reminded with painful clarity just how fragile our communal spaces can be and how urgent it is for us to come together in their defense. That we have been blindsided by the DOB without a semblance of leniency or understanding and summoned to court by the City of New York during a time when our tradition teaches us to refrain from engaging in legal disputes or court proceedings, feels not only disrespectful, but deeply out of step with both the legal accommodation of religious minorities and the spirit of compassion we hope to see from our civic institutions in these troubled times.
We need your help.
If you've ever davened in our sanctuary, sent a child to our daycare, danced with us on Simchat Torah, or found comfort in our community, please step up now.
This Emergency Fund will cover:
- Immediate fencing and sidewalk shed installation
- Engineering and legal compliance costs
- Repairs required to restore access to key parts of our building
Every dollar counts. A contribution today will help us protect our building, continue our operations, and stand strong in the face of an aggressive and disheartening enforcement campaign.
Please give generously!
Let’s show the city that Mount Sinai Jewish Center is not just a building. We are a resilient, committed, and unified community.
