Two synagogues in Brooklyn receive Jewish Heritage Fund grants
Two Jewish Heritage Fund grants totaling $75,000 were awarded to historic synagogues in Brooklyn — a $50,000 grant to Congregation Baith Israel Anshei Emis for the restoration of its masonry facades and structural repairs to its towers, and a $25,000 grant to Congregation Ahavas Israel for masonry façade restoration and roof replacement.
“These buildings are critical to celebrating and understanding the history of American Judaism and document the many contributions of Jewish New Yorkers to the city’s culture and history,” said Peg Breen, president of the New York Landmarks Conservancy.
Congregation Baith Israel Anshei Emes, familiarly known as the Kane Street Synagogue, was founded in 1856 and is known as the “Mother Synagogue.” In 1905, it purchased the former Middle Dutch Reformed Church and adjacent school building. It is believed that Samuel Warner (architect of the Marble Collegiate Church on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan) designed both buildings. The sanctuary and school are examples of Early Romanesque Revival architecture. The house of worship was completed in 1856 and the school was completed one year earlier in 1855.
Brooklyn Boro
View MoreNew York City’s most populous borough, Brooklyn, is home to nearly 2.6 million residents. If Brooklyn were an independent city it would be the fourth largest city in the United States. While Brooklyn has become the epitome of ‘cool and hip’ in recent years, for those that were born here, raised families here and improved communities over the years, Brooklyn has never been ‘uncool’.