On Prospect Park sues next-door synagogue over late-night revelry

Residents of Richard Meier’s On Prospect Park are suing the next-door synagogue over “pounding music throughout the night” that is “so loud and oppressive it literally shakes” the glassy new condominium, according to the Post. The building’s board alleges in a lawsuit filed last month that the Union Temple of Brooklyn, the borough’s oldest Jewish congregation, refuses to negotiate over the noise emanating from the synagogue’s Grand Ballroom, which it rents out for late-night events, despite the fact that the decibel level has sometimes been eight times the legal limit. “Even if the building was made of steel, you’d still hear this,” said Dennis Sughrue, president of the board at On Prospect Park, which sits directly to the synagogue’s East On Grand Army Plaza. Apartments at the building have sold for as much as $5 million. The board wants $20 million in damages, $2 million in punitive damages and a permanent injunction against the synagogue that would ban parties there in the future, according to the suit. While Union Temple hasn’t admitted to doing anything wrong, it has installed soundproofing in the hallways since the complaint was initially filed and agreed to step up its enforcement procedures at events while the suit is pending. L’chaim? [Post]