The renovation of a historic synagogue on Manhattan’s Lower East Side was celebrated.
The Eldridge Street Synagogue was rededicated Sunday as a synagogue and a museum after a 20-year, $20 million renovation.
The synagogue was the first in New York to be built by Jews from Eastern Europe, in 1887. By the 1950s, when Jews had left the area, the congregation was so small that it met in the basement of the Moorish-style building, which is located in what is now Chinatown.
An Orthodox synagogue will continue to meet in the basement. The rest of the building will be home to a museum dedicated to the history of the Lower East Side and American Jewry.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.