200 Amsterdam Avenue
also 200A Amsterdam Avenue | Lincoln Square | built 2020
Open on the map13 entries
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1970
Lincoln Square Synagogue opens a sanctuary with tiered seating in the round, designed by Hausman & Rosenberg
The Orthodox congregation's sanctuary at 200 Amsterdam Avenue, at West 69th Street, was built in 1970 to designs by Hausman & Rosenberg. Seating rose in tiers in the round, like an amphitheater. When CetraRuddy later designed its replacement, John Cetra said the room had become part of the congregation's iconography, but some members felt it did not separate the sexes visually enough, even with a partition dividing the seating.
Source: cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com
- 1973
Elena Kagan has the synagogue's first formal bat mitzvah, after Rabbi Riskin works out a service with her
Elena Kagan, later a Supreme Court justice, wanted to read from the Torah on a Saturday morning as the boys did, but Rabbi Shlomo Riskin had never led a bat mitzvah. The compromise was a Friday-night ceremony on May 18, 1973. She read from the Book of Ruth and gave a speech on it. Riskin later called it the congregation's first formal bat mitzvah.
Source: Internet Archive
- 2005
A deal with Lincoln Towers sets a 601-foot height limit for the future 200 Amsterdam site
In December 2005 developer Daniele Bodini signed a declaration with the Lincoln Towers boards laying out what could be built on each vacant site. If the synagogue's parcel were later merged into the development lot, the building could have no more than 60 above-grade floors and stand 601 feet tall. The agreement was never filed against the synagogue's own lot, because Bodini did not own it until December 2007.
Source: commercialobserver.com
- 2006
Lincoln Square Synagogue agrees to sell its building and site to developer Daniele Bodini
In early 2006 Lincoln Square Synagogue agreed to sell its former building and the lot beneath it for $27.7 million to American Continental Properties, the firm of Daniele Bodini. In exchange, Bodini would build a new temple for the congregation about 100 yards south, at 180 Amsterdam Avenue, on land he already owned and planned to sell to the congregation.
Source: commercialobserver.com
- 2013
Torah scrolls travel 250 feet to the new synagogue after a land swap clears the lot for a tower
By 2006 the congregation had outgrown 200 Amsterdam, so it swapped sites with developer American Continental Properties and took 180 Amsterdam, plus about $20 million. The developer gained this lot for an apartment tower. Work stopped in 2010 for lack of money, but an anonymous gift of more than $20 million let it finish, and the scrolls were carried across on January 13, 2013.
Source: cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com
- 2015
SJP Properties and Mitsui Fudosan America buy the site for $275 million
On October 15, 2015, SJP Properties and its partner Mitsui Fudosan America bought the former synagogue site for $275 million. Before buying, they reconfirmed that the site and its zoning matched the Department of Buildings' reading of the rules. The article says they have spent around another $70 million on construction.
Source: commercialobserver.com
- 2017
Elkus Manfredi's 52-story condominium tower wins its building permits
Elkus Manfredi Architects designed the 52-story luxury condominium planned for 200 Amsterdam. Permits were filed with the Department of Buildings on April 20, 2017 and issued on May 9, 2017. Within a week a zoning challenge was filed on behalf of the Committee for Environmentally Sound Development, backed by Borough President Gale Brewer and Council Member Helen Rosenthal.
Source: commercialobserver.com
- 2017
The city halts the planned tower after finding problems with its gerrymandered zoning lot
Two Department of Buildings determinations on July 11, 2017 stopped the developers' plans. An audit found they had not certified that the lots in the zoning lot were merged, and the department accepted a community challenge, filed May 16, saying the open space did not qualify. The challenge was started by Olive Freud and drafted by planner George Janes; SJP Properties said it was confident the zoning was valid.
Source: westsiderag.com
- 2018
The Board of Standards and Appeals votes to uphold the 200 Amsterdam permit
After hearings on March 27 and June 5, 2018, the Board of Standards and Appeals voted on July 17, 2018 to uphold the permit. At the first hearing the Department of Buildings argued that a draft memo on zoning lots, which activists relied on, was only a draft and not an official rule. The community groups took the case to state court that October.
Source: commercialobserver.com
- 2019
200 Amsterdam tops out at 668 feet while its zoning fight continues
In March 2019 Justice W. Franc Perry sent the zoning dispute back to the Board of Standards and Appeals, which again upheld the permit on June 25. By August 2019 the building had topped out, reaching 668 feet. The 2005 Lincoln Towers agreement had specified a height of 601 feet, not counting the parapet and mechanical screening.
Source: commercialobserver.com
- 2020
A judge orders the permit revoked and floors removed over a 39-sided zoning lot
Justice W. Franc Perry ruled in a suit led by the Municipal Art Society that the city had erred in permitting the tower, which rested on what opponents called a gerrymandered 39-sided lot. He ordered the Department of Buildings to revoke the permit and the developers to demolish floors above the zoning limit, possibly 20 or more of 55. SJP Properties and Mitsui Fudosan said they would appeal.
Source: gothamist.com
- 2021
An appeals court reverses the order and saves the top floors of 200 Amsterdam
A New York appellate court unanimously reversed the lower court's ruling that would have forced removal of about 20 floors from the nearly finished 52-story tower. It rejected opponents' argument that the developers had illegally assembled the zoning lot. The Municipal Art Society and a neighborhood committee, who sued in 2018, called the decision unreasonable. Developer Steven Pozycki said sales would relaunch.
Source: therealdeal.com
- 2023
A penthouse used as Roman Roy's home in Succession is listed for $38 million
As HBO's Succession ended in 2023, a penthouse at 200 Amsterdam went on the market after appearing in an episode as the apartment of Roman Roy. The four-bedroom duplex, covering the 49th and 50th floors with 6,300 square feet and a terrace, was priced at $38 million. Residents also have a 75-foot saltwater pool; another penthouse had sold that February for $21 million.
Source: therealdeal.com
Further reading
- 200 AmsterdamWikipedia
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