New York, NY – Questions Rise From The Dust Of An Old Synagogue

    4

    07synagogue3.large

    Join our WhatsApp group

    Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email


    New York, NY – The demolition of the 150-year-old First Roumanian-American synagogue on the Lower East Side is generating widespread criticism among preservationists, who say that one of the city’s historic religious buildings has been lost because too little was done to save it.

    By yesterday, much of the synagogue, on Rivington Street between Orchard and Ludlow Streets, had been reduced to rubble. Its arched Romanesque entry was gone, and only the rear wall, adorned with richly ornamented stained glass, provided evidence of what had been a grand sanctuary.
    Preservationists have recounted a litany of miscues and failed efforts to help shore up the sagging building.
    The president of the New York Landmarks Conservancy said, “People don’t come out of rabbinical school with a lot of course work in building maintenance.” “It is a shame there are not more sources of funding to help.”


    Listen to the VINnews podcast on:

    iTunes | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Podbean | Amazon

    Follow VINnews for Breaking News Updates


    Connect with VINnews

    Join our WhatsApp group


    4 Comments
    Most Voted
    Newest Oldest
    Inline Feedbacks
    View all comments
    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    18 years ago

    Don’t talk about Spiegel. Spiegel told me that everyone has a big mouth for critisizing him. He wants to know where all these bozos were over the years when he begged for money to keep the shul going strong. Nobody does a darn thing or cares but the minute something goes wrong everyone got an opinion. Typical of jews….

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    18 years ago

    ..and Spiegel probably wanted the money.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    18 years ago

    THE ACTUAL STORY:
    THE DEMOLITION IS ACTUALLY TAKING PART BECAUSE THE WALL COLLAPSED A FEW WEEKS AGO, AND THE CITY INSTRUCTED THE BUILDING TO BE THROWN DOWN BECAUSE OF SAFETY CONCERN. HOWEVER WOULD THE SHUL HAVE HAD LANDMARK STATUS – IT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DEMOLISHED BUT RATHER REBUILT WITH MUCH CARE.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    18 years ago

    I don’t have all the fact about why this shul was demolished, but I am certain it had to do with dwindling membership and dwindling coffers. What a shonde to allow any beautiful building fall to the wrecking ball, particularly when it was so much a part of neighborhood history. The Europeans would never have let this happen (but then again, they are taxed at a higher rate than we are to allow socialist governments to spend money on health care and historic preservation).