Story
Shtiebel Row
Upon reaching New York, many Jewish immigrants settled on the Lower East Side, establishing new congregations and social aid societies specific to local communities of the old country. Small synagogues were so common that a stretch of East Broadway was known as “shtiebel row,” after the Yiddish term for a small space for prayer (in contrast to larger synagogues).
Over time, Manhattan’s Jewish population shifted to other parts of the city, causing Lower East Side congregations to dwindle. Many synagogues were sold, shuttered, or abandoned, and some have since been demolished. Still, the neighborhood bears many traces of its once-vibrant Jewish life.
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12 stops•2.8km•36 min
Congregation Chasam Sopher
Congregation Chasam Sopher, the oldest synagogue building still in use in New York State.
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Congregation Sheveth Achim Anshe Slonim
This 1849 synagogue was designated an NYC Landmark in 1987, one year after it was purchased by artist Angel Orensanz.
2
First Warschauer Congregation
Originally built for a Romanian congregation, this Moorish revival synagogue was purchased three years later by a congregation tracing its roots to Warsaw, in present day Poland.
3
Forsyth Street Synagogue
Forsyth Street Synagogue, ca. 1978, after its sale to the Seventh-Day Adventist Church of Union Square.
4
Congregation Kol Israel Anshe Poland
Herter & Schneider's 1892 Forsyth Street synagogue was later converted to a Greek Orthodox church.
5
Museum at Eldridge Street
The Eldridge Street Synagogue is a preservation success story: following a 20-year restoration project, the synagogue reopened as the Museum at Eldridge Street in 2006.
6
Congregation Sons of Israel Kalwarie
Once known as the Pike Street Shul, the former Congregation Sons of Israel Kalwarie is now a Buddhist Temple.
7
Kletzker Brotherly Aid Association
Turn of the century Jewish life on the LES revolved around worship and "Landsmannschaftn," aid societies based on recent immigrants' shared old country roots.
8
Congregation Beth Hamedrash Hagodol
Built as a Baptist church in 1850, this Norfolk Street Synagogue was destroyed in a fire during the summer of 2017.
9
Adath Israel Synagogue
Synagogue and burial society on the old Shtiebel Row" section of East Broadway.
10
Mikveh of the Lower East Side
The Lower East Side's last remaining Mikveh, or Jewish ritual baths, at the far eastern end of East Broadway.
11
Bialystoker Synagogue
This Orthodox congregation, named for its Polish origins, worships in a former church made of fieldstone quarried on nearby Pitt Street.
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