B'nai Yosef Synagogue (The Painted Shul)

1616 Ocean Parkway | also 1614 Ocean Parkway | Homecrest | built 1972

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

1973
An anonymous donor builds B'nai Yosef, a synagogue that charges no dues
The synagogue at 1616 Ocean Parkway, home to the Sephardic congregation B'nai Yosef, was built around 1973 by an anonymous individual. The same person funds it, so members do not have to pay dues. From the street, the three-story brick building looks plain.
Source: Wikipedia
1974
Archie Rand begins painting every wall of the sanctuary, and a rabbi's ruling settles a dispute
Brooklyn College art professor Archie Rand started the murals in 1974 and finished them in 1977, covering the whole interior. Some community rabbis first accused him of idolatry, so a local supporter, Rabbi Lopian, took the matter to Rabbi Moshe Feinstein. Feinstein ruled the work kosher and its spirit commendable, and Rand finished. The shul became known as The Painted Shul.
“Completed between 1974 and 1977, the work was controversial at first, with a group of community rabbis accusing Rand of idolatry.”
Source: Wikipedia
2003
A documentary film, The Painted Shul, records the murals and Rand's work
Filmmaker Amala Lane made a documentary called The Painted Shul in 2003, produced by Marji Greenhut, with minor changes made in 2006. It looks at the varied painting styles on the walls of B'nai Yosef and at Archie Rand's experience painting them. The murals include a picture of the Knesset menorah by Benno Elkan.
Source: Wikipedia

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