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Saturday, December 7, 2013

‘Lot’ of anger: Landmark Orthodox synagogue sues over property

Shlomo Hagler

A Manhattan judge was slapped with a $25 million lawsuit for his role in the potential sale of lucrative property adjoining a landmark institution once run by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

Fellow board members of the Bialystoker Synagogue are suing their president, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Shlomo Hagler, over a dispute involving an ­L-shaped lot at Delancey Street and Bialystoker Place and that’s been owned by the orthodox congregation since 1987.

In the suit, Baruch Singer and Lenny Greher claim that Hagler, the synagogue’s rabbi, Zvi Romm, and the chairman of its housing fund are barred from selling the property at 15-17 Bialystoker Place based on an April 2012 ruling by a Brooklyn rabbinical court.

A source close to the litigation told The Post the suit comes after the synagogue sold off a 127-unit ­affordable-housing building it owns on an adjacent lot for $28 million in January.

The orthodox congregation, housed in a 1826 fieldstone building that’s on the National Register of Historic Places, is primarily made up of Polish immigrants. It’s rumored that the building was a stop on the Underground Railroad.

Hagler took over as president when Sheldon resigned in 2010 following a rift in the congregation over women joining the leadership ranks.

Hagler declined to comment. The other defendants did not return calls for comment.


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