The Conservancy In the News
Our virtual discussions on an array of topics were dutifully covered by The Jewish Voice and Opinion, from the Jewish Bronx and Harlem to Radical Housewives, the rise and fall of Penn Station, “ESCAPES” on the Lower East Side and our virtual tour of Congregation Shearith Israel.
The San Diego Jewish World picked up this review of our virtual tour of Harlem, which Sue Weston and Susie Rosenbluth called “a neighborhood where Jewish voices echo.”
At the turn of the last century, there were more than 500 synagogues in what Lori Weissman, the director of operations for the Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy, calls “America’s most famous immigrant neighborhood,” which then stretched to 14th Street. Fewer than a dozen remain; the Conservancy offers tours (suspended for now) of some of them, Ms. Weissman said. A particularly beautiful one is the still-active Bialystoker Synagogue on Willett Street. The landmark 1826 building, converted to a synagogue in 1905, features a soaring interior with stained-glass windows, hand-painted murals and a ceiling adorned with signs of the zodiac.
In 2013 The Conservancy was proud to host The Ruins Of The Borscht Bel, a photographic exhibit by Marisa Scheinfeld at our Kling & Niman Family Visitor Center. We are happy to share the news that this very popular show will be expanded and shown at the Yeshiva University Museum at the Center for Jewish History. It is entitled "Echoes of the Borscht Belt: Contemporary Photographs by Marisa Scheinfeld." The exhibition opened to the public on Sunday, August 3 and will be on view until Sunday, April 12, 2015. This exhibition features 23 large-scale images complimented by a selection of original artifacts and ephemera from some ofthe Borscht Belt's most beloved hotels and resorts.
On June 26, 2013 the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to designate the New York Public Library, Seward Park Branch, 192 East Broadway.
AJC and the LESJC Organizes Lower NYC East Side Diplomatic Walking Tour. Read the article at the Jewish Post.
We are happy to report that, yesterday, the Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously designated the Bialylstoker Home and Center as an official NYC landmark. Constructed by Jewish immigrants from Poland, led by their charismatic leader David Sohn, the splendid Art Deco building designed by architect Harry Hurwit, opened as a nursing home in 1931 and closed on November 1, 2012, when it was put on the market as "a highly desirable development site." We thank everyone who rallied to save this historic building--Council Member Margaret Chin, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, State Senator Daniel Squadron, Community Board 3, concerned individuals and organizations--that will stand as a landmark and a permanent
reminder of an earlier era on the Lower East Side. Read about it in the New York Times .
Bialystoker Home for the Aged may not make it into many tourist guides, but this Lower East Side art deco artifact holds an important link to New York's immigrant history. It was just born on the wrong side of the street, and because of that, it's an endangered structure. Read this terrific blog post in The Bowery Boys titled, Bialystoker Home, a remarkable Lower East Side treasure and home for assisted living--now in need of some assistance .
January, 2012
Laurie Tobias Cohen , Executive Director of the Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy, was quoted in the New York Times in an article about our efforts to help landmark the historic Bialystoker Nursing Home.
September 2009
Capacity turnout at the Angel Orensanz Foundation for Joyce Mendelsohn celebrating
the re-release of her book, The Lower East Side Remembered and Revisited: A History and
Guide to a Legendary New York Neighborhood.
We are happy to report that, yesterday, the Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously designated the Bialylstoker Home and Center as an official NYC landmark. Constructed by Jewish immigrants from Poland, led by their charismatic leader David Sohn, the splendid Art Deco building designed by architect Harry Hurwit, opened as a nursing home in 1931 and closed on November 1, 2012, when it was put on the market as "a highly desirable development site." We thank everyone who rallied to save this historic building--Council Member Margaret Chin, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, State Senator Daniel Squadron, Community Board 3, concerned individuals and organizations--that will stand as a landmark and a permanent
reminder of an earlier era on the Lower East Side. Read about it in the New York Times .
August, 2015
New York's Top 10 Hidden Jewish Gems
Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy is listed first!
September, 2014
The LESJC is proud to feature this stop on our many walking tours - read the article on the Tablet online .
The Bialy—the Bagel's Long-Neglected Cousin —Tries for a Comeback At Kossar's on the Lower East Side, new owners hope that combining a new look with old recipes will save bialys from extinction .
READ THE ARTICLE
“It was a booming place,” said Laurie Tobias Cohen, executive director of the Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy.
While other New York City institutions have succumbed to the insatiable appetite of a hungry real estate market, the 128-year-old Katz’s Delicatessen, with $19.95 pastrami sandwiches and a legion of fans, found a way to hang on.