Adath Jeshurun of Jassy Synagogue

58 Rivington Street | also 60 Rivington Street | Lower East Side | built 1990

Open on the map5 entries

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

1. 1903

   Emery Roth designs a Moorish Revival synagogue on Rivington Street

   In 1903, the Romanian-Jewish congregation Adath Yeshurin of Yassay, organized in 1886 and until then meeting at 131 Hester Street, buys two old buildings at 58-60 Rivington Street and hires architect Emery Roth, who had arrived in the United States from Austria-Hungary in 1884, to design a Moorish Revival synagogue in contrasting yellow and beige brick, with an arched entrance flanked by lion sculptures.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

2. 1904

   September 5

   A flood topples the synagogue's stone lions before its opening

   An August 1904 storm floods the unfinished synagogue and destroys its ornamental entrance lions, leaving only their stone pedestals standing, the New York Times reports. After the lions are recast, the synagogue opens on September 5, 1904, with a dedication parade watched by roughly 10,000 spectators and policed by 300 officers.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

3. 1908

   Debt and a mass exodus of members force the synagogue into foreclosure

   The congregation quickly falls into debt, facing a contractors' lawsuit for $20,750 in January 1905, and loses most of its membership by 1907 as neighborhood residents move away following the 1904 General Slocum disaster. The synagogue is foreclosed in 1908.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

4. 1908

   The Erste Warschauer Congregation takes over the Rivington Street synagogue, later home to the Gershwins' circle

   By late 1908 the Erste Warschauer (First Warsaw) Congregation, a group of Polish Jews organized in 1889, had acquired the Rivington Street building, which the original Romanian congregation had mortgaged to a developer. Regular members of the congregation over the years included George and Ira Gershwin, Samuel Goldwyn, George Burns and Senator Jacob Javits.

   Source: Wikipedia

5. 1979

   Artist Hale Gurland converts the shuttered synagogue into studios

   After Rabbi Nuta Shainberg, its leader for nearly three decades, dies in 1975, the synagogue closes the following year. Artist Hale Gurland converts the derelict building into studios and residences for local artists in 1979, a use the building keeps today.

   Source: Wikipedia

Further reading

• Adath Jeshurun of Jassy SynagogueWikipedia
• Congregation Adath Yeshurin of Yassay--No. 58-60 Rivington StreetDaytonian in Manhattan

Nearby

• University Settlement House184 Eldridge Street | 4 entries
• 143 Allen Street3 entries
• Allen Street Municipal Baths133 Allen Street | 3 entries
• Rivington House45 Rivington Street | 4 entries
• The Meatball Shop82 Stanton Street | 5 entries
• Rafael Hernández Houses187 Allen Street | 4 entries

All 78 buildings with stories in Lower East Side