Image credit: LPC

Commissioners allowed demolition to proceed, but mandated that any material that can be retained or salvaged must be preserved. On July 12, 2017, Landmarks decided on application filed by the owners of the Beth Hamerdash Hagodol Synagogue, an individual City landmark, at 60 Norfolk Street on the Lower East Side.  The building was severely damaged by a fire in May of 2017, believed to have been set by a teenage arsonist who gained access to the building. The building’s roof collapsed in the fire, the interior was gutted, and that which was left standing sustained severe structural damage. The Synagogue sought a certificate of appropriateness to clear away rubble and take down the portions in danger of imminent collapse, then to remove what material remained, as those fragments would retain no architectural significance or integrity. (more…)