Six years on, $50M Lincoln Square Synagogue will open its doors

After six years and $50 million, Lincoln Square’s not-so-very-synagogue-looking synagogue is finally ready to open its doors, DNAinfo reported. The congregation will welcome congregants this weekend at 180 Amsterdam Avenue and West 68th Street.

The Lincoln Square Synagogue’s old building “didn’t age well” and “was cramped and constrained,” according to Senior Rabbi Shaul Robinson, who has been with the Modern Orthodox congregation for seven years. That building was constructed in 1971, and situated at 200 Amsterdam Avenue.

The opportunity to upgrade buildings came when American Continental Property approached the synagogue’s leadership about doing a land swap. American Continental Property is now planning a 50 or 60-story building on the old site.

The new location was financed with $20 million made in the land deal, along with a $20 million gift from an anonymous donor and smaller donations from the congregation. “Hundreds of of people contributed in getting the building built,” said Robinson. [DNAinfo] —Christopher Cameron