A Parking Lot With a View

The Congregation Beth Israel, or Westside Jewish Center, is an impressive presence on W. 34th Street. The congregation was formed back in the 1880s, and the grand white synagogue was very much in keeping with the area, which at the time boasted the old Pennsylvania Station nearby and the Post Office nearby.

The current parking lot next to it is mighty impressive, too. Because it is surely the only parking lot in the City which can boast a stained-glass window. It's not the lot's window, per se; it's Beth Israel's. But it looks onto the parking lot, and only people who park their cars in the parking lot can really see it up close. Such are the peculiarities of the changing real estate landscape in Manhattan.