Community Shows Up in Court to Protect Historic Kingsbrook Shul

By COLlive reporter

Crown Heights community leaders, joined by a large crowd of Shul members and supporters, appeared together at Brooklyn Supreme Court on Wednesday to defend the nearly 100-year-old Kingsbrook Shul, which is facing potential demolition as part of a major redevelopment project.

Appearing at the Courthouse today for the first hearing of the lawsuit are Rabbi Lazer Avtzon of the Association of Crown Heights Shuls; Yaacov Behrman of the Jewish Future Alliance; and Rabbi Mendel Rendler, a trustee of the Kingsbrook Synagogue. The three are present in support of Congregation Chaim Albert, also known as the Kingsbrook Shul, which has filed a lawsuit seeking to preserve the historic house of worship.

Congregation Chaim Albert, an Orthodox Jewish synagogue with nearly a century of continuous service in East Flatbush, is suing One Brooklyn Health System to protect its shul building, located on the grounds of Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center. The synagogue is at risk as part of a $400 million state-funded redevelopment that could lead to the sale and demolition of the building for residential use.

In its legal filing, the congregation is asking the court to impose a constructive and charitable trust to preserve the structure for religious purposes and to establish the congregation’s ownership of the property.

Just after Chanukah this year, Governor Kathy Hochul personally intervened to stop the demolition of the shul, saying in a statement to COLlive: “Kingsbrook Synagogue has been around since the early 1900s and is a testament to the strength and resilience of the Jewish community. I’m proud to have led the effort to save the historic Kingsbrook shul from its demolition and encourage leadership from the hospital and synagogue to find a path forward where both sites can prosper and serve the community.”

Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center was founded in the 1920s by New York’s Jewish community in response to widespread antisemitism in healthcare. From its earliest days, the hospital incorporated Jewish values, including a kosher kitchen and regular prayer services. In 1950, a standalone synagogue was constructed on the campus to serve hospital staff, patients, and the surrounding Jewish community.

According to the lawsuit, the congregation received repeated assurances over the years—including in a 2019 state-issued RFP and continuing through the COVID-19 pandemic—that the shul would remain untouched during any redevelopment. Despite those assurances, the hospital system now plans to include the synagogue in a sale for residential development, with no provision for preserving the active house of worship.

Congregants say they were locked out of the building during the pandemic and repeatedly promised they would be allowed to return. In 2024, they were informed that the shul would instead be sold as part of the redevelopment.

“This Shul has been a pillar of the community for decades,” said longtime member Rabbi Zalman Goldstein. “I raised my family here, celebrated the bris ceremonies of two of my sons, a bar mitzvah, Torah dedications—this is not just a building; it’s a sacred trust. What’s happening is both shocking and wrong.”

Another community member, Tzvi Shuchat, recalled dedicating a Torah in memory of his brother, a beloved cantor at the shul. “To see that legacy—and the Shul’s enduring presence—abruptly cut off is not only shocking, it is deeply painful,” he said.

“This sacred space is an irreplaceable part of New York’s Jewish heritage,” Yaacov Behrman said. “It must be preserved, not erased.”

The lawsuit further alleges that Kingsbrook kept the building closed long after the public health emergency had passed in order to avoid backlash over removing an active house of worship. Congregation Chaim Albert says it is now turning to the courts to prevent what it describes as the erasure of nearly a century of Jewish religious life and communal tradition.