Holy houses: A look at religious institutions lobbying to cash in on Midtown East air rights

From the March issue: The evangelist preacher Billy Graham is fond of saying that “God has given us two hands — one to receive with, and the other to give with.” But three Midtown religious institutions that want to cash in on the city’s Midtown East rezoning proposal are finding that their hands are tied. St. Patrick’s Cathedral, St. Bartholomew’s and Central Synagogue between them have just over 2 million square feet of unused development “air rights,” which could be worth anywhere from $400 million to $1.1 billion, according to widely varying expert views. [more]