183-189 Second Avenue Building Date : 1925-26 Original Use : Institutional Original Owner : Louis Jaffe Original Architect : Harrison Wiseman Description & Building Alterations

The Yiddish Art Theater was designed for prominent Brooklyn lawyer and Jewish community leader Louis Jaffe. The historic building was constructed as an elaborate, 1,265 seat live theater for the Yiddish Art Theater company, which was directed by Maurice Schwartz. The interior was designed in the Moorish Revival style that was popular in synagogues at the time, and included a forty-foot ornamental ceiling with a spectacular Star of David in the center that is still present today.

The Yiddish Art Theater housed elaborate productions from Maurice Schwartz and his troupe, including The Tenth Commandment in 1928, which featured dances by Michel Fokine and sets by Tony-award-winning Boris Aronson. The theater showcased I.J. Singer’s Yoshe Kalb in 1932. Schwartz’s loyal following and festive, imaginative plays attracted renowned guests such as Albert Einstein, Charlie Chaplin, George Gershwin, and former New York City mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. The building went through several names and incarnations throughout the mid-1900s, including The Stuyvesant Theater, a film exhibition house, and a stint as the East Village landmark The Phoenix Theater. In 1930, the space was occupied by Molly Picon’s Folks Theater, named for Molly Picon, one of the greatest female stars of the Yiddish stage. In 1991, the theater was restored and converted into the Village East Cinema, and in 1993 the interior and exterior were designated as landmarks by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.