Upper East Side Church Can't Sell Its Buildings, Parent Group Alleges

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — An Upper East Side church is trying to sell two of its buildings without proper permission, according to a new lawsuit filed by a group that says it is in charge of the house of worship.

The suit against Immanuel Lutheran Church, on East 88th Street and Lexington Avenue, was filed last week by the Metropolitan New York Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America — a group that oversees most of New York City's Lutheran churches.

It alleges that the church is breaking state law by trying to sell a pair of five-story apartment buildings on East 88th Street, which sit right next to the church's 136-year-old main building.

Since February, Immanuel Lutheran has been marketing the two buildings at 120 and 1220 East 88th St. with the help of real estate brokers and financial advisors — all without permission from the synod, the group says.

The synod says this would run afoul of state law, which requires churches to get permission from their governing bodies and from the state attorney general before selling any property.

It's unclear whether any future owners would seek to tear down the two buildings, which have a combined 20 units. Notably, they sit less than a block outside of the Park Avenue Historic District, meaning a future development on the site would not need to get special approvals from the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission.

If the church did try to get the necessary permission to sell the buildings, it would be unable to prove that the "purposes of Immanuel nor the interests of its members will be promoted" by the transaction, the synod alleges.

But The Real Deal, which first reported on the lawsuit, notes that Immanuel Lutheran's pastor describes the church as being part of the North American Lutheran Church — a different group than the one that filed suit — raising questions about the Evangelical Lutheran Church's involvement in the case.

The new suit closely resembles another action filed in state court back in March, when the same synod accused Immanuel Lutheran of an illicit real estate deal — in that case, the sale of a co-op apartment on East 82nd Street that had been given to church pastor Gregory Fryer.

The synod ultimately agreed to dismiss its claims in May, court records show.

Immanuel Lutheran Church and its attorneys could not immediately be reached for comment, but one of the church's lawyers told The Real Deal that the suit was a "perverse attempt to amass a multi-million-dollar windfall, at the expense of Immanuel’s religious freedom."

"We look forward to vindicating the fundamental constitutional rights of the church and its members," attorney Mary Beth Maloney told the outlet.

Immanuel Lutheran is described in the suit as a "beautiful, historic church structure," built by German immigrants in 1886.

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