West Side Rag
  • TOP NEWS
  • OPEN/CLOSED
  • FOOD
  • SCHOOLS
  • OUTDOORS
  • REAL ESTATE
  • ART & CULTURE
  • POLITICS
  • COLUMNS
  • CRIME
  • HISTORY
  • ABSURDITY
  • ABOUT US
    • OUR STORY
    • CONTRIBUTORS
    • CONTACT
    • ADVERTISE
    • GET WSR FREE IN YOUR INBOX
    • SEND US TIPS AND IDEAS
West Side Rag
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result

Favorite WSR Stories

    SUPPORT THE RAG
    Get the neighborhood news that matters.
    Sign up for our free newsletter

    PLANS FOR MEGATOWER ON FORMER SYNAGOGUE SITE SHRINK SLIGHTLY

    March 8, 2016 | 9:49 AM
    in NEWS, REAL ESTATE
    27

    800px-Lincoln_Square_Synagogue

    The apartment building set to rise at 200 Amsterdam Avenue, the former site of Lincoln Square Synagogue between 69th and 70th streets, will be 51 stories, according to a story in the Observer.

    The developer had initially planned to build 55 stories, and it’s not clear why the tower is now a bit shorter.

    “The new ownership is constructing a 51-story, 112-unit luxury residential condominium tower at the site, a spokeswoman for SJP confirmed, but would not comment further.”

    Developer SJP Properties just received a $160 million mortgage loan for the property (which is also known as 208 Amsterdam Avenue). SJP bought the property for $275 million in 2015 from American Continental Properties, which had made a land swap deal with the synagogue. Lincoln Square’s new synagogue is just down the block from its former home.

    Share this article:
    SUPPORT THE RAG
    Leave a comment

    Please limit comments to 150 words and keep them civil and relevant to the article at hand. Comments are closed after six days. Our primary goal is to create a safe and respectful space where a broad spectrum of voices can be heard. We welcome diverse viewpoints and encourage readers to engage critically with one another’s ideas, but never at the expense of civility. Disagreement is expected—even encouraged—but it must be expressed with care and consideration. Comments that take cheap shots, escalate conflict, or veer into ideological warfare detract from the constructive spirit we aim to cultivate. A detailed statement on comments and WSR policy can be read here.

    guest

    guest

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    27 Comments
    John
    John
    10 years ago

    With what they paid and the new loan they already have 3 million invested in each unit.
    Will be Foreign buyers for sure. Wonder if they are getting a tax abetment?

    0
    Reply
    maryjane
    maryjane
    10 years ago

    Finally!!!! Common sense prevails

    0
    Reply
    UWS-er
    UWS-er
    10 years ago

    That’s a pretty small site for such a tall building…..will there be affordable apts. and if so where will they place the poor door?

    0
    Reply
    Shamir
    Shamir
    10 years ago

    I hope they tear down this building already and start construction.

    This abandoned synagogue has been an eyesore for years and a shiny new tower will be great for the neighborhood.

    0
    Reply
    Raquel
    Raquel
    10 years ago

    Ugh, great, more congestion on 72nd street – between Trader Joe, the condo on 72nd and the Bloomies Outlet I can barely walk down the street.

    0
    Reply
    Bob
    Bob
    10 years ago

    get over yourself, Raquel.

    not a big fan over the tower though.

    0
    Reply
    James Berry
    James Berry
    10 years ago

    It is too tall for our neighborhood; the congestion as already too much and the 66th Street station will be overcrowded and dangerous.

    0
    Reply
    John
    John
    10 years ago

    The people in this building do not ride the subway so don’t worry about that.

    0
    Reply
    Jane
    Jane
    10 years ago

    Just a few thousand extra people to share the paltry amount of grocery stores with. Awesome.

    0
    Reply
    concerned parent
    concerned parent
    10 years ago

    I hope they are going to build a school with the building because this is going to overcrowd PS 199 even more!!!

    0
    Reply
    Gretchen
    Gretchen
    10 years ago

    They should tear down the new synagogue while they’re at it and start over. It looks like a prison designed by Antoni Gaudi on a low budget.

    0
    Reply
    ls
    ls
    10 years ago

    Not to mention the ton of trash bags on the sidewalk when the building garbage is put out for pick up….

    Folks will need to wait on line just to walk on the sidewalk….

    0
    Reply
    denton
    denton
    10 years ago

    112 apartments does not equate to ‘thousands’ of people. Probably a couple of hundred at most.

    0
    Reply
    Siddhartha
    Siddhartha
    10 years ago

    I agree new development is needed, but a “shiny new tower?” Please, I hope not. Use some imagination. Not everything has to be encased in glass.

    0
    Reply
    Steve
    Steve
    10 years ago

    I hope you are right. Everyone said that the people moving into the Trump development on Riverside Blvd would never send their kids to public school. There sure are a lot of them at PS 199 and in the middle schools it feeds.

    0
    Reply
    anon
    anon
    10 years ago

    @Jane, there are only 112-ish apartments planned for this building. Assume 25% foreign buyers who are rarely even in the country and I think you’ll be fighting a maximum of about 75-150 extra adults for the overpriced produce at Fairway (and if they can afford these apartments they’re not at the grocery store a lot). If that’s too much, I suggest the wonder I’ve discovered that is Fresh Direct – no going to the store!!

    0
    Reply
    Paul RL
    Paul RL
    10 years ago

    I used to look aghast at this building, but over the years I’ve grown to appreciate it as an interesting example of 1960’s architecture. I haven’t seen anything quite like it anywhere else in the city. While I’m in favor of this development, I wish there was more of an effort to preserve some of the unique relics in our midst.

    0
    Reply
    JPK
    JPK
    10 years ago

    LOL. It really is hideous.

    0
    Reply
    Alan
    Alan
    10 years ago

    #4 Shamir,
    You just made an anti-semitic sentiment, get over it or go back where you come from.

    0
    Reply
    Cato
    Cato
    10 years ago

    #19 Alan — Why is stating that the “abandoned synagogue has been an eyesore for years” is an “anti-[S]emitic sentiment”? It’s a comment on the appearance of the building, not a reflection on the people who used it, their heritage or their religious practices.

    I would shudder to think that we have reached a state of such hypersensitivity that every building used as a synagogue is immune from criticism for its architecture. Do you think it impossible that a synagogue can be imperfect in any way?

    And, regardless: This is a forum for the posting of personal opinions, whatever they may be. We don’t tell each other to “go back where you come from”, even if we hold opinions different from theirs. OK?

    0
    Reply
    Questioner
    Questioner
    10 years ago

    #19 Alan, I’m wondering the same thing as #20 Cato. Why is that anti-Semitic? Legitimate question.

    Also, let he who is without sin cast the first stone. “Go back where you come from” sounds much more “anti” than someone’s architectural opinion.

    0
    Reply
    UWSEd
    UWSEd
    10 years ago

    Now THAT’S funny, Gretchen!

    0
    Reply
    lynn
    lynn
    10 years ago

    Some of us here may be a little more familiar with Shamir than others. While I don’t believe that specific comment was anti Semitic, this person has repeatedly and in a hostile manner told seniors and disabled seniors in this forum that they don’t deserve housing assistance, and to get out of this neighborhood, and that he doesn’t give a damn about their needs while he and families like his are struggling. More to the point that we should go live in the Bronx or Queens. I’m sure he’s getting a kick out of people coming to his defense here for some imagined slight directed toward him.

    0
    Reply
    No patience
    No patience
    10 years ago

    Raquel you are so right. Can’t walk down the street anymore…hopefully Bloomie’s will not last..it’s a low-end mess. And TraderJo’s -they get so many complaints -they don’t know what to do. We suggested moving to larger space but they have a long lease. And so…we are crowded out into the street. It’s odd..whenever something comes to the UWS- it turns to garbage immediately. unlike the village or UES –take for example -the new OFF FIFTH (SAKS)-same genre as Bloomies-yet somehow on E57th street-its clean and elegant and NOT low-end….and here on the UWS the beat just goes on and on…..

    0
    Reply
    Sam
    Sam
    10 years ago

    Just another too-talk building for overseas investors that blocks the rest of us from getting any sunlight. Stock up on your vitamin D folks.

    0
    Reply
    ScooterStan
    ScooterStan
    10 years ago

    Re: “25’s “building for overseas investors that blocks the rest of us from getting any sunlight.”

    Sheesh!! PLENTY of sunlight available in Central Park, Riverside Park (nice rvr vw also), and EVEN in Verdi Square (if you don’t mind the allegedly bed-buggy wooden benches)!

    0
    Reply
    No patience
    No patience
    10 years ago

    Shamir……some of us appreciate the architecture of the bldg. Another shiny new tower is what we DONT need. Perhaps you haven’t been here long enough to see the need for air and light. Also preservation.

    0
    Reply

    YOU MIGHT LIKE...

    A Post-Grad’s Guide to the Upper West Side
    NEWS

    A Post-Grad’s Guide to the Upper West Side

    September 17, 2026 | 1:34 PM
    A police car on the Upper West Side.
    NEWS

    88-Year-Old Woman Missing From the Upper West Side: Police Seek Help

    September 17, 2026 | 8:36 AM
    Previous Post

    SILVER STARS FITNESS: STAND UP TO MOVE, FEEL & LOOK BETTER AFTER 50! (SPONSORED)

    Next Post

    CLOTHING STORE STUCK IN THE SHADOWS LAUNCHES ‘SCAFFOLDING SALE’

    this week's events image
    Next Post
    CLOTHING STORE STUCK IN THE SHADOWS LAUNCHES ‘SCAFFOLDING SALE’

    CLOTHING STORE STUCK IN THE SHADOWS LAUNCHES 'SCAFFOLDING SALE'

    FLOWER VENDOR ON BROADWAY ARRESTED; PLANTS GET THROWN OUT

    FLOWER VENDOR ON BROADWAY ARRESTED; PLANTS GET THROWN OUT

    VOLUNTEER WITH DOROT AND BRIGHTEN A NEIGHBOR’S DAY (SPONSORED)

    FIND YOUR PERFECT MATCH BY VOLUNTEERING WITH DOROT (SPONSORED)

    • ABOUT US
    • CONTACT US
    • NEWSLETTER
    • WSR MERCH!
    • ADVERTISE
    • EVENTS
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • TERMS OF USE
    • SITE MAP
    Site design by RLDGROUP

    © 2026 West Side Rag | All rights reserved.

    No Result
    View All Result
    • TOP NEWS
    • THIS WEEK’S EVENTS
    • OPEN/CLOSED
    • FOOD
    • SCHOOLS
    • OUTDOORS
    • REAL ESTATE
    • ART & CULTURE
    • POLITICS
    • COLUMNS
    • CRIME
    • HISTORY
    • ABSURDITY
    • ABOUT
      • OUR STORY
      • CONTRIBUTORS
      • CONTACT US
      • GET WSR FREE IN YOUR INBOX
      • SEND US TIPS AND IDEAS
    • WSR SHOP

    © 2026 West Side Rag | All rights reserved.