City approves Chabad plans to build facilities

Chabad of the Upper West Side has won approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission to build a day school, synagogue and community center inside two buildings at 43 and 45 West 86th Street between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West. The group will renovate the two landmarked rowhouses for its new facilities, forcing the renters who currently live in the buildings to move out. Community Board 7 had voted down Chabad’s plan, but recently the commission unanimously approved the project. Early projections estimate that the renovated space will be ready by 2013.