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Historic church being housed by a synagogue gets green light for restoration
(New York Jewish Week) — When a fire devastated the Middle Collegiate Church in the East Village two years ago, East End Temple, a nearby Reform synagogue, welcomed church-goers to worship in their sanctuary.
Since then, a relationship has blossomed between the synagogue and the church, which has remained homeless due to the six-alarm fire that destroyed most of the historic building in 2020.
But this weekend, when the congregations get together for a planned Martin Luther King Jr. Teach-In this Sunday, they’ll have something additional to celebrate: The NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission cleared the way for the church to build a new home.
Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis of Middle Church said on Wednesday that the Landmarks Commission voted to allow the church to remove the burnt remains of its facade, allowing the congregation to rebuild.
According to Lewis, East End’s Rabbi Josh Stanton was one of the first people who reached out to her after the fire, which started next door. The synagogue has since supported the church in its efforts to win approval for its renovation so that it can return home.
“Truly, God is good,” Lewis wrote on Twitter. “Out of this fire, fierce love is rising.”
Yesterday, the NYC Landmarks Commission voted to let us remove the destroyed remnants of our facade, so we can build a new home.
As Christian fascism rises, the world needs churches like Middle. As unapologetically antiracist, prochoice, and queer as God. pic.twitter.com/EChCv6qqCx
— Middle Church (@middlechurch) January 11, 2023
Stanton welcomed the Landmarks Commission’s decision.
“I am relieved by the decision and elated that Middle Collegiate Church will be able to rebuild,” Stanton said. “Buildings are meant to serve human needs and higher purposes — and the new church building will do so in transformational ways.”
He told the New York Jewish Week that the relationship between the two congregations builds upon King’s legacy. “We view each other as kindred spirits as opposed to feeling a sense of animus,” Stanton said, adding that some 300 people from both congregations are planning to attend Sunday’s teach-in, which is about strengthening the bond between black and Jewish communities.
“We are, as a Jewish community, going to church with our wonderful friends and colleagues at the leading multicultural church in New York City,” Stanton said.
He added that the church will continue to use the synagogue sanctuary for the ‘foreseeable future,’ unless it should outgrow the space.”
In a time of rising antisemitism, he added, this type of joint learning is “essential work,” he added. “This is one of those opportune moments, probably the most opportune since the Civil Rights era, for Black folks, Jewish folks, and Black and Jewish folks, to work together in a concerted way.” Last year, a number of African-American celebrities — notably the rapper Kanye West and the New York Nets star Kyrie Irving — were criticized for sharing antisemitic tropes with their millions of social media followers, stoking tensions between the Black and Jewish communities.
Both Lewis, Stanton and others will speak at the King event. After church services, the community will break bread, take part in community organizing work and learn more about their shared history.
Middle Church has served the East Village community since 1892. Before the fire, it was a community hub for other social programs — some run by other synagogues — including soup kitchens and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. It has also played a role in supporting people during the AIDS crisis, helping people pay rent during Covid and more recently, supporting Ukraine in its war with Russia.
Since Easter of 2021, the church has prayed at the synagogue’s sanctuary on East 17th Street every Sunday.
It’s not all bleak out there.
I went to church last Sunday, where East End Temple, a Jewish synagogue in the East Village, has been hosting @middlechurch for almost two years after a fire destroyed their historic building. pic.twitter.com/0FjtlXr7TA
— Jacob Henry (@jhenrynews) December 8, 2022
The Temple covered upwards of 95% of the cost for the church to rent the space.
“Josh was offering me a tabernacle,” Lewis told the New York Jewish Week last month. “This big-hearted rabbi opens the door to a church, in a time of rising antisemitism, that’s just bold, fierce love at work.”
In her tweet announcing the Landmark Commission’s approval, Lewis also thanked multiple elected officials who helped fight for the church, including Council Member Carlina Rivera, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, Assembly Members Harvey Epsteim and Deborah Glick, and the NYC Mayor Faith Advisor Pastor Gil Monrose.
“We are forever in your debt,” Lewis wrote.
The MLK event is taking place this Sunday, Jan. 15 at East End Temple in the East Village. The church is also accepting donations to support its rebuilding efforts.
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The post Historic church being housed by a synagogue gets green light for restoration appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Iran Promises ‘Crushing’ Attacks Against the US and Israel
Symbolic mock-ups of Iranian missiles are displayed on a street, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 22, 2026. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
i24 News – Iran has issued a stark warning of “crushing” retaliatory attacks against the United States and Israel following threats from US President Donald Trump to escalate military operations in the coming weeks.
In a statement aired on Iranian state television, the Khatam al-Anbiya operational command said, “this war will continue until your humiliation, your disgrace, your permanent and certain regret, and your surrender,” framing the conflict as a long-term confrontation and invoking “trust in Almighty God.”
Iranian officials further warned that future operations would be “more crushing, broader, and more destructive,” signaling the potential expansion of the conflict across multiple fronts amid ongoing missile and drone exchanges in the region.
The escalation comes after Trump publicly suggested intensifying strikes on Iran, saying operations would continue until “the job is finished” and claiming significant military gains against Iranian strategic capabilities. As tensions rise, both sides appear to be hardening their positions, increasing fears of a wider regional confrontation.
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Trump Speech Unleashes More Pain on US Consumers with $5 Gasoline, Record Diesel in Sight
US President Donald Trump arrives to award the medal of honor to Master Sgt. Roderick ‘Roddie’ W. Edmonds, Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis, and retired Command Sgt. Maj. Terry P. Richardson during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 02 March 2026.
US President Donald Trump’s address to the nation on Wednesday, in which he vowed more aggressive strikes on Iran, has put consumers on course for record fuel prices at the pumps just ahead of the country’s peak summer travel season, market experts said.
Americans expected Trump’s speech to outline a plan to end the Iran war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, as Iran’s blockade of the global oil conduit has sent oil and fuel prices skyrocketing, pinching consumers’ wallets. But instead, Trump vowed to bomb Iran back into the “Stone Ages” and said the strait would just open “naturally” when the war ends.
The comments sent US crude oil prices surging more than 10 percent on Thursday, and US average retail gasoline prices are now set to climb to between $4.25 and $4.45 a gallon by next week after crossing $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022 at the start of this week, said Patrick De Haan.
The pain could worsen. If there is no viable plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the US average price of gasoline will likely cross $5 a gallon and hit record levels within a month, De Haan said.
Wholesale markets had begun moving higher on Thursday, with midmorning increases of 17 cents a gallon in the Great Lakes, Great Plains, Northeast and West Coast markets, and a 19-cent-a gallon hike in the Gulf Coast, said Tom Kloza, chief energy adviser to Gulf Oil on social media.
Meanwhile, diesel prices, less visible to consumers but arguably more impactful as they are directly tied to the cost of making and moving goods, could hit a record high within two weeks, De Haan said.
The national average retail diesel price is set to climb from $5.47 a gallon on Thursday to between $5.80 and over $6 a gallon within the next two weeks, De Haan said. The record US average retail price was $5.83 a gallon in 2022.
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Britain Says 40 Countries Discuss Reopening Strait of Hormuz After Iran Blockade
A map showing the Strait of Hormuz is seen in this illustration taken June 22, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
About 40 countries are discussing joint action to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to stop Iran holding “the global economy hostage,” Britain said on Thursday, after US President Donald Trump said securing the waterway was for others to resolve.
British foreign minister Yvette Cooper said Iran’s “recklessness” in blockading the waterway was “hitting our global economic security” as she chaired the virtual meeting, which included France, Germany, Canada, the United Arab Emirates and India.
“We have seen Iran hijack an international shipping route to hold the global economy hostage,” Cooper said in opening remarks broadcast to the media before the rest of the meeting took place behind closed doors.
The United States did not attend the talks, one official said. The discussions, involving representatives of some 40 countries, took place after Trump said on Wednesday evening that the Strait could open “naturally” and it was the responsibility of countries that rely on the waterway to ensure it was open.
FOCUS ON DIPLOMATIC AND MILITARY OPTIONS
Iran has effectively shut down the key waterway, which carries about a fifth of the world’s total oil consumption, in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes which began in late February. Reopening it has become a priority for governments around the world as energy prices soar.
European countries initially refused Trump’s demand to send their navies to the area because of fears about being dragged into the conflict.
But concerns about the impact of the rising cost of energy on the global economy have prompted them to try to form a coalition to see how they can defend their own interests.
European diplomats said putting the coalition together was at an early stage, with Britain and France leading.
Officials said the discussions on Thursday would focus on which countries were prepared to participate.
France’s Armed Forces spokesperson Guillaume Vernet told a news conference on Thursday that the process would be multi-phased and could not happen until hostilities had calmed or ended.
A key focus of the talks would be how to ensure ship-owners could feel confident enough for vessels to resume traveling through the area and to bring down insurance premiums.
There would also eventually need to be coordination with Iran to ensure that there will be security guarantees for ships, Vernet said, something that is unlikely for now.
Talks had also started on what military assets could be provided, he said.
“We will need to assemble a sufficient number of vessels and have coordination capabilities in the air, at sea, as well as the ability to share intelligence,” he said.
Britain said it would host a meeting of military planners for talks next week.
Trump said on Wednesday evening that other countries that use the Strait of Hormuz should “build up some delayed courage” and “just grab it.”
“Just take it, protect it, use it for yourselves,” he said.
But France’s President Emmanuel Macron speaking in South Korea on Thursday said seizing the Strait militarily was an “unrealistic” option.
“It would take an indefinite amount of time, and it would expose all those who venture through this Strait to coastal risks from the Revolutionary Guards, as well as ballistic missiles,” he said.