Ceiling Collapse Shuts Down Slope Synagogue
On Thursday night a section of ceiling collapsed inside Congregation Beth Elohim’s synagogue on Garfield Place and 8th Avenue, and the structural damage closed down the house of worship’s sanctuary for high holiday services this weekend. The congregation held most of its weekend services at the Old First Reformed Church on Carroll and 7th Avenue….
On Thursday night a section of ceiling collapsed inside Congregation Beth Elohim’s synagogue on Garfield Place and 8th Avenue, and the structural damage closed down the house of worship’s sanctuary for high holiday services this weekend. The congregation held most of its weekend services at the Old First Reformed Church on Carroll and 7th Avenue. The following email was sent out on Friday about the collapse: “Sometime last night, a large section of our Main Sanctuary’s balcony ceiling collapsed. The pieces of plaster are large and quite heavy. We are all so extremely lucky that no one was hurt. After House Committee Co-Chair Susan Doban called in a structural engineer for a full assessment and recommendations for next steps, we were advised that several other sections of the ceiling are compromised and that it is unsafe to sit in certain sections of the Sanctuary until repairs have been made.” A Daily News story on the collapse noted that after the holidays had passed, services at Beth Elohim would be held in the synagogue’s other two buildings on 8th Avenue. Beth Elohim’s website says its sanctuary was completed in 1909.
Old First Reformed Church to House Congregation Beth Elohim [NY Daily News]
Congregation Beth Elohim [Official Site] GMAP
“This is a healthy, thriving, well-to-do congregation. I am a bit surprised that this problem went undetected until the ceiling collapsed.”
– if you said it like this from the beginning then I’d have had no beef.
fsrq, you seem like a very angry person. I’m sorry if I have written something to offend you. I really am. I engage in this for fun not to offend people and cause ill will.
There are many synogogues and churches in the city with dwindling congregations and few if any resources to help maintain their buildings. This is not the case here. This is a healthy, thriving, well-to-do congregation. I am a bit surprised that this problem went undetected until the ceiling collapsed. That’s all.
What makes you so angry?
Minard – that’s only because you are a moron.
frsq, go nuts dude! Way to believe.
fsrq -I find your words have little if any meaning. You also tend to run your sentences together.
It’s as if the sacred space recoiled so hard from the hateful nutjobs that it got a hernia. The nutjobs, btw, have no connection with any actual Baptist church (the Baptists have disavowed them), they are a small but virulent hate group dominated by a single sicko family.
Sorry meant “I Know NO such thing”
No infinitejester I know know such thing…the statement was one of the “Wealthiest Congregrations” in Brooklyn…..NOT is this a “wealthy” congregation.
Now lets assume that Minard was only talking about Jewish Congregations….do you know how many wealth areas there are in Brooklyn that have sizeable Jewish populations? I know everyone here just focuses on Brownstone Brooklyn (and the 6 neighborhoods that it encompaces) but Brooklyn is FAR bigger. Do you know about the Jews who live in Gravesend (see most expensive home sold in Brooklyn 2 down), what about Manhattan Beach? What about the Jews who live in Brooklyn Heights or Cobble Hill, can you really know how wealthy the very religious congregations are in neighborhoods like Borough Park, Crown Heights, Flatbush???
Again it isnt that its all that important but it is perfect example of the nonsense that people post here constantly – words matter – and so it infuriates me that people dont spend any time choosing theirs (especially in a post that ascribes wealth to jews – when the poster cant possibly know), is it so hard to say (if it is even necessary) – …this has got to be a wealthy congregation, therefore I am surprised….
It might sound nit picky but again – words have meaning
NOP, yes, there are tons of stories like that. One of the most shocking is that when the UN established its HQ in NYC the staffers from countries in Africa and Asia could not find a place to live. The UN had to build a complex in Queens, financed by Rockeller, so that the staffers could have a decent place to live and raise their families while on duty in the US. That complex is about fifty years old and I heard it was up for landmark designation now, I can’t recall the name. But it should definitely be landmarked for the cultural history alone.