The Synagogue for the Arts, which is also known as the Civic Center Synagogue, is one of New York City?s most radical and modern structures.

It is tucked away at 49 White Street in TriBeCa in the middle of the attractive block of cast-iron 19th Century buildings between Church Street and Franklin Place, three blocks south of Canal Street.

Designed by William N. Breger Associates in 1969, its vertically curved fa?ade conjures a yoyo in motion hovering above the ground.

It is set back in a plaza and a large part of the building overhangs the entrance that leads to a rear garden. The plaza has a cast-iron fence in front of it.

The synagogue now wants to enclose some of the open space beneath the overhang and a hearing has been scheduled on the proposal for July 25 at the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

On June 20, 2006, Community Board 1 voted to recommend that the commission ?remove this application from the scheduled hearing in July, giving the applicant the opportunity to further develop the proposal and allow CB#1 the opportunity to review the final revised application.?

?This magnificently designed building has gone through changes in uses over the years as well as water damage problems but is a marvelous example of the varied nature of architecture in TriBeCa,? the resolution read, noting that the applicant ?seeks to enclose 281 of the presently floating, open ceiling on the flat portion of the first floor to provide more space for cultural uses? and is ?also seeking to increase the security of the building, ?although the Committee felt this was a very secondary and low priority issue compared with ensuring the modification does not detract from the wonderful design.? The landmarks committee of the community board voted 10 to 0 on the resolutions that were then was unanimously adopted by the full board.

?The committee felt the design, using strong aluminum mullions was overly complicated and detracted from the current floating feel of the front wall? and also ?felt that a more appropriate ? light, open and floating design could be made, particularly if the security issues ? forcing the use of strong aluminum mullions and shatter proof glass was reconsidered,? the resolution maintained.

According to the resolution the applicant agreed to work further on the design.

?A flame is supposed to come to your mind when looking at the bulbous front,? observed David W. Dunlap in his fine book,, ?From Abyssinian to Zion, A Guide to Manhattan?s Houses of worship,? which was published in 2004 by Columbia University Press. Mr. Dunlap noted that the ?home of Congregation Shaare Zedek (a different group from that on West 93rd Street), may look more than a marble-clad pot-bellied stove, but at least it represents an effort to use a distinctively modernist vocabulary for a house of worship?and it does have some sublime moments; for instance, the building seems to float overhead as you approach it.

A July 3, 2006 article by Carl Glassman in the TriBeCa Trib notes that ?with a $75,000 ?target hardening? grant administered by the state?s Department of Homeland Security, the synagogue plans to build a nine-foot-high, shatterproof glass wall that would enclose about two-thirds of the plaza,? adding that ?The building all also be expanded in to the space behind the wall with new classrooms, an office and a chapel, constructed at the synagogue?s expense.?

In his fine article, Mr. Glassman interviewed the architect, William Breger, who described the proposed change as ?unconscionable,? adding that ?this is a building suspended between two walls, and that?s the aesthetic, that?s why the shape takes the form that it does?If you break that up by giving any sense of support, whatever it is, you will lose the impact of the building 100 percent.?

Shael Shapiro is the architect for the proposed change.