Tribeca Synagogue

The story

Breger, who earned a graduate architecture degree at Harvard and spent two years as an assistant and draftsman to Walter Gropius, also held a PhD in philosophy from NYU. Tribeca Synagogue is his best-known work, a Brutalist form that looks almost as if it landed from outer space among the period buildings of White Street. It counts as one of the city's architectural must-sees. The congregation inside is colorful, diverse and open to all levels of Jewish learning and experience. Daily, weekly and holiday services run alongside a Hebrew School, and the plaza, sanctuary and social hall host events and family celebrations such as bar and bat mitzvahs. The synagogue also stages a Jewish Women in Film Festival, four evenings of film screenings.