Noted Lower East Side Synagogues
Former Congregation Anshe Chesed, 172-176 Norfolk Street , Alexander Saeltzer, 1849-50 – NYCIL
Former Congregation Rodeph Sholom, 8-10 Clinton Street, 1853
Kehila Kedosha Janina Synagogue, 280 Broome Street, Sydney Daub, 1927-28 – NYCIL
Former Eldridge Street Synagogue, 12 Eldridge Street, Herter Brothers, 1886-87 – NYCIL
Anshe Chesed and Rodeph Sholom are respectively the oldest and second oldest surviving synagogue buildings in the city, and some of the oldest in the country. Both were constructed for German Jewish congregations in German architectural styles: Gothic Revival and Rundbogenstil (“round-arch style”), and feature red brick, central staircases and symmetrical façades with recessed central sections and square towers. Kehila Kedosha Janina Synagogue is the only Greek Synagogue in New York and the only synagogue of Romaniote Jews in the Western Hemisphere. The Eldridge Street Synagogue was America’s first major house of worship built by Eastern European Orthodox Jews. The yellow brick building features Moorish and Romanesque details and rich ornament. At its peak in the early 20th century, the synagogue hosted as many as 1,000 worshippers at services, but was forced to close in the mid-20th century when the area’s Jewish population began to dwindle. In 1986, the Eldridge Street Project funded a large-scale restoration of the building, which was repurposed as a museum. The Former Congregation Anshe Chesed,Kehila Kedosha Janina Synagogue and the Former Eldridge Street Synagogue are all designated New York City Individual Landmarks.