Above, a boy stands before the oldest surviving synagogue building in New York City, located at 172 Norfolk Street. What was then a neighborhood fixture brimming with debates about Jewish identity and rite has, like many other Lower East Side synagogues, since faced…
The near freezing weather and packed crowds aren’t enough to deter the thousands who cram into Times Square every December 31st to watch the ball drop from the top of One Times Square. The New Years Eve event often has nearly a billion people watching, but there’s more to the building than…
Stand on the East side of the Jackie Onassis Reservoir in Central Park and look across the water. The skyline is dominated by buildings designed by Emery Roth, many of which have been designated New York Historical landmarks.
Born to a Jewish family in Hungary in 1871, Roth immigrated alone to the United States when he was…
A couple of doors down from the Forward Building (and notably two stories taller) stands Jarmulowsky’s Bank. Sender Jarmulowsky immigrated to America from Russia, and by 1873 he had set up his bank on the Lower East Side. In addition to the Jarmulowsky Bank Building, he was also instrumental in the construction of the Eldridge Street…
In the heart of the Lower East Side stands a ten story building. Completed in 1912, the Beaux Arts building was the first skyscraper on the Lower East Side and the home to The Jewish Daily Forward. The Forward was founded in 1897 by Abraham Cahan, a Belarusian-born Jew who came to America to escape charges…
