Readers Write: An Open Letter to the Boro Park Community from Keren Bais Liska

Dear Neighbors & Community Residents,

As we watch the steel beams rise and see the magnificent new Merkaz Klal Chasidi L’Torah  U’Tefilah Khal Ateres Tzvi Liska begin to take shape, we are overwhelmed with gratitude to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. 

This project represents a historic step forward for our kehillah, providing an expanded Heichal HaTorah, Heichal Tefillah, and essential communal spaces that will serve our neighborhood for generations to come.

We are acutely aware, however, that a project of this magnitude brings physical challenges to our shared surroundings. 

In particular, the heavy construction has necessitated temporary, scheduled street closures along 50th Street between 14th and 15th Avenue.

We are fully aware that 50th Street is a major thoroughfare for the community. We know that preventing vehicular traffic on this critical artery causes severe gridlock and backups throughout the entire neighborhood, which is incredibly aggravating for everyone trying to get through. 

Please know that we are trying our very best to minimize this impact. 

To avoid keeping the block blocked off longer than necessary, we are proactively prefabricating and building whatever components we can off-site, reducing the amount of assembly and crane work needed right here on the street.

We want to reassure the entire community that we are doing our absolute best to minimize disruptions to your daily routines.

It is important to emphasize that this building is being designed from the ground up as a communal Makom Kodesh explicitly intended to serve the neighborhood. 

To ensure we protect the quality of life on our block, our Kehilah purposefully declined to build a commercial simcha hall inside the structure. 

Instead, we have dedicated that space to a beautiful Heichal Torah that will remain open 24 hours a day for the entire public.

 In doing so, the shul is knowingly forgoing substantial, ongoing rental revenue.

 We made this conscious sacrifice because we recognized that hosting nightly events and simchas would create permanent traffic jams, loud disruptions, and impossible parking obstacles on a block and neighborhood that is already heavily congested. 

Our goal is to enrich the community spiritually, not overwhelm it logistically.

Every planning decision we make puts the needs of our neighbors first. To prevent major disruptions during the busiest times of the year, we took aggressive action over the summer months. 

At a significant added expense to the cost of construction, we accelerated the schedule so that the heavy foundation work was fully completed while the neighborhood was away in the mountains, finishing just before the community returned to the city.

 Furthermore, recognizing how hectic the block becomes before the Yomim Tovim, we completely halted all construction and street closures over the Yom Tovim to ensure smooth traffic flow during the peak shopping days.

We know it may look like we don't know or don't care that the street is closed during peak morning or afternoon hours when busses are picking up or bringing home the children. However, that is the furthest from the truth. 

The reality of high-rise construction is that setting up and dismantling massive cranes takes hours of precise labor every single day. If we were to shorten the daily work window to avoid the morning or afternoon school rush, the crews would barely have time to erect the steel beams. 

Limiting the hours any further would drag the project out, ultimately requiring many more days of street closures and prolonged disruption for everyone. 

By maximizing the hours we have each day, we are actually shortening the overall duration of the project.

Having said that, we understand the immense pressure on school transportation and the safety of our children. 

We will, of course, try our very best to coordinate with the site supervisors to have the street open during the critical morning and afternoon hours so that the school buses and  can come through the block with minimal delays.

We know that navigating traffic and detours requires immense patience. 

Please accept our sincerest apologies for any inconvenience these temporary changes cause you and your family. 

It is our hope that by maintaining an accelerated pace, we can safely conclude this phase of construction ahead of schedule.

Thank you for your exceptional understanding, your neighborly grace, and your shared excitement as we build a vital makom Torah u'tefillah in the heart of Boro Park for the entire community.

Wishing you and your families continued brachah and hatzlochah,

The Administration of Keren Bais Liska

On behalf of Merkaz Klal Chasidi Ateres Tzvi Liska