Park Avenue Synagogue
50 East 87th Street | also 1181 Madison Avenue, 1191 Madison Avenue, 44 East 87th Street | Carnegie Hill | built 1926
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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.
- 1926
Park Avenue Synagogue lays its cornerstone on East 87th Street
The congregation, formed through mergers of three older congregations dating back to 1882, lays the cornerstone for its new home at 50 East 87th Street on June 5, 1926. Architects Deutsch & Schneider design the building in a Moorish style with seating for 1,200 worshippers, completed the following year at a cost of $280,000.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1927
Mayor Jimmy Walker attends the dedication of the new Moorish-style sanctuary
The Park Avenue Synagogue dedicated its new sanctuary on East 87th Street on March 27, 1927, with Mayor Jimmy Walker among those present. The Moorish-style building came a year after its cornerstone was laid. The congregation had been founded in 1882 as Temple Gates of Hope and took the name Park Avenue Synagogue in 1923.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1929
Thousands attend attorney Maurice Bloch's funeral at the synagogue
On December 8, 1929, thousands gather at Park Avenue Synagogue for the funeral of attorney Maurice Bloch. Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt, Mayor Jimmy Walker, and Senator Robert F. Wagner are among those who attend.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1937
Rabbi Joachim Prinz, who fled Germany, speaks on why Hitler is not overthrown
On November 19, 1937, the New York Sun reported that Dr. Joachim Prinz, a former Berlin rabbi who had fled Germany the previous year, would be the guest speaker at the synagogue's 8:15 evening service. His announced subject was why Hitler had not been overthrown.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1942
Cantor Putterman begins yearly services of music by contemporary composers
In 1942 Cantor David J. Putterman began an annual tradition at the synagogue of featuring music by contemporary composers. By the fifth annual Sabbath-eve service in 1947, the New York Times reported, nine composers had written pieces specially for it, sung by the synagogue's choir together with the Hebrew Art Singers. Over the years Leonard Bernstein, Morton Gould, Darius Milhaud and Lukas Foss all wrote music for services there.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1950
Rabbi Milton Steinberg dies after nearly two decades leading the synagogue
Rabbi Milton Steinberg, who has led Park Avenue Synagogue since 1933, dies on March 20, 1950, at age 46. A building addition completed in 1954 is later named the Milton Steinberg House in his honor.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1954
The synagogue opens an addition with Adolph Gottlieb stained glass
On September 19, 1954, Park Avenue Synagogue opens the Milton Steinberg House addition, designed by Kelly & Gruzen. The building features 91 stained-glass panels created by artist Adolph Gottlieb, though the addition is later dismantled in 1980 and the panels reused elsewhere in the synagogue.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1957
Protestants, Catholics and Jews pay tribute at the synagogue's 75th anniversary
The congregation marked its 75th anniversary on March 31, 1957, with a show of interfaith unity. The New York Times described visiting groups from nearby Presbyterian, Baptist, Unitarian and Catholic churches sitting among the worshipers, together with representatives from several New York synagogues. The paper reported that Protestants, Catholics and Jews alike honored the synagogue.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1965
Former President Eisenhower worships with the congregation on a war anniversary
On May 28, 1965, former President Dwight D. Eisenhower attended services with the Park Avenue Synagogue congregation. The date marked twenty years since troops under his command had liberated the concentration camps.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1980
The Milton Steinberg House is dismantled and some Gottlieb glass is reused
In 1980 the Milton Steinberg House, the 1954 addition with its wall of stained glass, was dismantled and replaced by a new structure. Some of the glass panels designed by Adolph Gottlieb were saved and reinstalled as clerestory windows in the replacement building.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1994
Jesse Jackson condemns California's Proposition 187 from the synagogue
On December 5, 1994, the Rev. Jesse Jackson spoke at the synagogue against California's Proposition 187, which would deny schooling to children of undocumented immigrants. Newsday reported that he linked the measure to America's turning away a boatload of Jewish refugees in 1939, the internment of Japanese Americans, and the return of Haitian boat people in 1991.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
Further reading
- Park Avenue SynagogueWikipedia
- The 1927 Park Avenue Synagogue - 50 East 87th StreetDaytonian in Manhattan
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