Lincoln Square Synagogue

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The Lincoln Square Synagogue is located at 180 Amsterdam Avenue between West 68th and 69th Streets in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1964, the physical location of the congregation has changed several times. The most recent move took place in January 2013. The new building is the largest synagogue to be built in New York City in over 50 years. The current senior Rabbi is Rabbi Shaul Robinson.HistoryThe Lincoln Square Synagogue was founded as a congregation in 1964 by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin. In the late 1960s, the first Orthodox Jewish women's tefillah (prayer) group was created, on the holiday of Simhat Torah at Lincoln Square Synagogue.The travertine building it formerly occupied at 200 Amsterdam Avenue, just 250 feet from its current building, was built in 1970, and was designed by the firm of Hausman & Rosenberg. Because it had outgrown that building, the synagogue moved to a new building designed by Cetra/Ruddy in mid-January 2013, after a development process that lasted seven years. The move was the result of a land swap between the synagogue and the development company American Continental Properties, in which the congregation received $20 million to aid in paying for the construction of the new building. Despite this, and the $10 million raised by the congregation, construction was held up in 2010 because of a lack of funds, which was made up by a single contribution of $20 million from an anonymous donor. The old building at 200 Amsterdam will be replaced by an apartment building.