A Brooklyn synagogue is among 23 “Sacred Sites” in New York State that have received grants for physical repairs from the New York Landmarks Conservancy.
Temple Beth Emeth v’Ohr Progressive Shaari Zedek in Flatbush received a Jewish Heritage Fund Grant of $40,000, which will help repair a leaking roof and a severely deteriorated masonry parapet. The project is to be completed in anticipation of a separate project to replace the synagogue’s outmoded air conditioning equipment.
“You don’t have to be religious to understand that religious institutions contain some of our finest art and architecture. Many also provide vital social service programs and cultural activities that make significant contributions to their communities,” said Peg Breen, Conservancy president.
Temple Beth Emeth, designed in Classical Revival style, was built of red brick in 1912, a decade before a matching addition went up. The congregation merged two decades ago with Progressive Shaari Zedek, which had absorbed the former Shaari Zedek in the 1960s.
The building houses a Friday morning tot program, adult education classes and a Hebrew school and the New Yiddish Repertory Theatre.
Two Manhattan synagogues also received Conservancy grants.
A $30,000 grant to the Stanton Street Synagogue on the Lower East Side will help pay for repairs on the building’s exterior walls, and a grant of $25,000 to the East Village’s Sixth Street Community Synagogue will go towards repairs of its roof and façade.
The Conservancy is a nonprofit organization “dedicated to preserving, revitalizing, and reusing New York’s architecturally significant buildings.” It provides technical assistance, project management services, grants, and loans, to owners of historic properties throughout the state.
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