By: Fern Sidman

In the heart of East Flatbush, Brooklyn, a quiet but momentous legal battle is unfolding—one that pits a nearly century-old Jewish congregation against the sweeping forces of urban redevelopment. Congregation Chaim Albert, known locally and affectionately as the Kingsbrook Shul, has filed suit to prevent the demolition of its sanctuary, a modest but historically rich building on the grounds of Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center.

According to documents obtained by VIN News, the synagogue has launched legal proceedings against One Brooklyn Health System, the medical network overseeing the $400 million redevelopment plan backed by New York State. The congregation claims that the site—constructed in 1950 and in continuous use until the COVID-19 pandemic—constitutes a charitable religious trust, and therefore cannot legally be sold or razed without judicial consent.

“This isn’t just brick and mortar—it’s a sacred space,” Rabbi Zalman Goldstein told VIN News, as he stood before the locked doors of the shuttered sanctuary. “Generations have prayed here, mourned here, celebrated bar mitzvahs and weddings here. To destroy this is to erase our collective memory.”

The legal action is being closely followed by VIN News, which has documented the growing outcry from Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish community. Congregants and community advocates argue that they were initially reassured by hospital leadership that the synagogue would be preserved—even as development plans were unveiled. However, they later learned that the building had been earmarked for demolition to make way for new residential construction, a core component of the state-funded project intended to address affordable housing shortages in Central Brooklyn.

According to the information provided in the VIN News report, critics of the redevelopment have raised concerns that the synagogue was quietly shuttered in the aftermath of the pandemic—not for public health reasons, but to preempt community resistance to the building’s eventual destruction.

“It was a calculated silence,” said Rabbi Yaacov Behrman, a prominent community leader who has taken up the cause alongside local activists. “The shul was closed after COVID and never reopened—not because the community wasn’t interested, but because the hospital had other plans. Now we’re being told it’s too late.”

The stakes go far beyond one congregation’s place of worship. As VIN News reported, Congregation Chaim Albert’s lawsuit highlights the broader tensions between urban renewal and religious heritage, particularly in neighborhoods like East Flatbush where historic synagogues, churches, and mosques coexist with hospitals, housing projects, and new developments.

The legal filing asserts that the synagogue building is not merely hospital property, but rather a trust for the benefit of its congregants, a legal status that may complicate or invalidate any proposed sale. The congregation is asking the court not only to halt the demolition but also to affirm its rights of religious use and community stewardship.

Governor Kathy Hochul has been called upon by local leaders to intervene. Though she has yet to comment publicly, VIN News has confirmed that her office is “reviewing the matter,” following appeals from Jewish community representatives and civic organizations.

The broader redevelopment plan—heralded by state officials as a “transformational investment” in healthcare, housing, and economic opportunity—has not been without its critics. VIN News has chronicled multiple instances in which community stakeholders have expressed concern that historic institutions are being sacrificed in the name of progress, without adequate transparency or engagement.

For the members of Congregation Chaim Albert, the battle is deeply personal. “This synagogue is not just ours—it’s part of Brooklyn’s Jewish soul,” said Miriam Rosenthal, a congregant who grew up attending services at the Kingsbrook Shul. “It survived postwar migration, white flight, and disinvestment. And now, after everything, they want to wipe it out with a wrecking ball?”

In court documents and public statements, the synagogue’s leadership stresses that they are not opposed to the hospital’s broader revitalization goals. But they argue that such goals should not come at the cost of erasing a foundational piece of Jewish communal life.

“We support development that strengthens neighborhoods,” Rabbi Goldstein told VIN News. “But there must be space for faith, memory, and the preservation of sacred ground. If we can’t protect a house of worship built on hospital grounds bearing the name ‘Jewish,’ then what does that say about our city’s values?”

For now, the synagogue stands silent, its stained-glass windows catching the light of another Brooklyn summer, even as the future of its walls remains uncertain.