Building's Lobby Becomes Religious Battleground

With the holidays approaching, many apartment-dwellers have helped deck their lobbies with non-denominational cheer: sparkly snowman ornaments, pinecone-pimpled wreaths, and inoffensive boughs of holly.

But Justine Swartz is not amused. The Brooklyn Heights resident claims that her co-op building has violated her freedom to worship by forbidding her from lighting her menorah and praying in the lobby.

"My building's menorah lights have been extinguished," Swartz told The New York Post. "I have not kept the Jewish commandment that requires the menorah to be lit in a public place."