USA: Start of $1.6M Restoration of Oldest Queens Synagogue

New York. Tifereth Israel Synagogue. Start of Restoration (top), Aron ha-Kodesh (bottom). Photo: NY Landmarks Conservancy

USA: Start of $1.6M Restoration of Oldest Queens (New York) Synagogue

A groundbreaking ceremony was held at Congregation Tifereth Israel, 109-18 54th Avenue in Corona, at 11 am June 22. The landmark 1911 wooden building is a rare survivor of the earliest, vernacular synagogues built in Queens and is the oldest synagogue in the borough, celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.

Click here to see photos on the Landmarks Conservancy Facebook page.

Restoration will remove the present stucco coating and restore the original wood clapboard siding, wood windows and doors, Moorish-style metal domes and finials, and historic paint colors to this important building, returning it to its appearance of a century ago.

The New York Landmarks Conservancy has worked with the synagogue for more than a decade providing $30,000 in direct grants and serving as the project manager. The Conservancy helped the congregation with their selection of preservation architects Li/Saltzman; liaison with City and State funding agencies; selection of construction contractors Lipsky Enterprises, Inc. and LoDuca Associates, Inc.; and will now help the congregation manage and monitor the restoration work.

Queens, New York. Tifereth Israel Synagogue. Start of Restoration, with help from the New York State environmental Protection Fund. Photo: NY Landmarks Conservancy

The synagogue, which has been revitalized in recent years by Bukharan Jwish immigrants, is being restored with $1.1 million in New York City capital funding allocated by Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, augmented by a $200,000 restoration grant from the New York State Environmental Protection Fund.

Queens, New York. Tifereth Israel Synagogue. Start of Restoration. Interior. Photo: NY Landmarks Conservancy

“I am delighted to have supported the restoration of our county’s oldest synagogue. This visible sign of Jewish heritage and tradition is now a century old and both a city and national landmark,” said Marshall. “This milestone birthday in the history of this structure, built in 1911 for a congregation relocated to Queens from the Lower East Side, is, indeed worthy of celebration.”

“Its refurbished exterior and doors will now open to a new generation that will cherish it for many years to come,” she said.

“This synagogue is an important piece of Queens history. We are grateful to the borough president and the other donors who recognize its significance and are helping with its revitalization and restoration,” said Peg Breen, president of The New York Landmarks Conservancy.

An additional $360,000 has been provided by several NYC philanthropists, foundations, and nonprofit organizations:

• The Arlene and Arnold Goldstein Family Foundation, whose founder’s real estate management firm, Samson Management, is based in Rego Park;
• Leonard Lauder, whose mother, Estee Lauder, and maternal grandparents, Max and Rose Mentzer, were early members;
• Sam Domb, hotel developer and Jewish philanthropist;
• The New York Community Trust; and
• The New York Landmarks Conservancy

Pro bono legal services for the project have been provided by the firm of Bryan Cave LLP.

(source: New York Landmarks Conservancy)

USA: Three Synagogues in Queens Added to National Register

USA: Three Synagogues in Queens Added to National Register

Three 20th century synagogues in Queens, New York, were recently surveyed by the New York Landmarks Conservancy and then successfully nominated to the State and National Registers of Historic Places. The synagogues are the Astoria Center of Israel (1925-26), the Free Synagogue of Flushing (1927) and the Rego Park Jewish Center (1948).

According to the Conservancy, architectural historian Tony Robins was hired to complete 10 National Register nominations, "building on the Conservancy’s survey research and outreach to each congregation. Funding for this project was provided by the Preserve New York grant program of the Preservation League of New York State and the New York State Council on the Arts."

The following article of a recent tour of the synagogues gives some description of the buildings.

Conservancy holds exclusive tour of historic Queens Synagogues

Synagogues now Churches

NY Times Story and On-line Presentation Gives a Close-up to Former Synagogues now Needy Churches
by Samuel D. Gruber

Throughout the United States there are hundreds of former synagogues that are now churches. No one knows how many...I keep my own lists but they are woefully incomplete. In each city one can usually find an historian, preservationist or journalist who has a pretty good idea and in the right circumstances can help set up a tour, or at least provide a list of addresses.

But in New York City, and particularly in Brooklyn, this is hard work. Until this year nobody had reliable lists of even the extant synagogues, let alone the former ones, and no one that I know of had visited many of these buildings in recent years.

In 2007, the New York Landmarks Conservancy began a systematic survey of "historic" synagogues in New York - ones that might be eligible for preservation grants. This is part of a larger multi-year effort to survey all the religious buildings in New York City, something that has been talked about for years but only now with the Conservancy's work does it seem to be seriously underway. For synagogues, already the Conservancy team has visited scores of synagogues in Brooklyn and a much smaller number in Queens. I had the privilege to tag along as an "advisor" a bit last summer, and even in those short visits I was impressed by the quality of previously “undocumented” synagogues, and the richness of their decoration - and particularly the stained glass.

Even the Conservancy survey has not yet visited all the many former synagogues that are now churches - usually serving small independent Protestant congregations - especially Baptist - and increasing Pentecostal and other charismatic sects, as well as Jehovah's Witness congregations. And these buildings are often the ones that need the most care, because they are run independently, often without regular membership and funding, and because they were often bought by their new congregations when they were old and cheap, and maintenance and expensive repairs have often been deferred for years.

In thinking about the problems of these congregations, and the often seemingly irresolvable state of repair of their (often once-impressive) buildings, I re-read the excellent New York Times story by David Gonzalez that ran this past January 28th (2008). Gonzalez and photographer Ruth Fremson take the reader into two of these congregations - the well-maintained Linden Church of Seventh-day Adventists in Queens (formerly Laurelton Jewish Center) and the large and dilapidated St Timothy Holy Church in Brownsville, Brooklyn (formerly the Amboy Street Shul), and present their difficult situations in a broader context.

Since - when the New York Times is concerned - I'm still a print guy, I did not notice that the author and photographer had posted an audio-visual presentation on-line that presents even more - especially visually - of the story. Ms. Fremson's photos are especially noteworthy and should be more widely seen.

Below is a link to the story. Click the modest link to the audio-visual presentation under the second photo. Watch the slides at full screen for best effect. My compliments to Mr. Gonzalez and to Ms. Fremson. We need more main-stream media stories about the plight of our religious buildings. Whether we are religious or not, we must recognize that these buildings carry much of our history and art, and importantly stand as architectural landmarks - centers of gravity, if you will - in countless urban neighborhoods across America. We must first document these buildings, and then where possible, assist to protect them a preserve them for present and future use.

(More on how we can do this in future posts)

Once a Synagogue, Now a Church, and Ailing Quitely
By DAVID GONZALEZ
New York Times, Published: January 28, 2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/28/nyregion/28citywide.html?pagewanted=1&sq=jewell%20cunningham&st=nyt&scp

For more on the Sacred Sites Program of the New York Landmarks Conservancy see:
http://tools.isovera.com/organizations.php3?orgid=79&typeID=643&action=printContentItem&itemID=5040