Beth Hamedrash Hagadol 1850

The Gothic Revival structure at 60 Norfolk Street was built in 1850 as the Norfolk Street Baptist Church, but it soon became the home of the oldest orthodox congregation of Russian Jews in the United States, which was founded in 1852 and has occupied the building since 1885.

Rabbi Jacob Joseph, the first and only Chief Rabbi of New York City, led the congregation from 1888 to 1902. He emigrated from Lithuania in 1888 to unite the orthodox Ashkenazi community under a single leadership.

In 1967 Beth Hamedrash Hagadol was designated a New York City landmark after it was threatened with demolition. It was one of the first New York City synagogues to have received this honor and the first in Lower Manhattan.

In 2007, Rabbi Mendel Greenbaum made the decision to shut down the synagogue, as its congregation had dwindled to just 15 members. The building sat empty and abandoned for years. In 2012, Greenbaum filed an application to the Landmarks Preservation Department seeking to demolish the structure and replace it with condos, with room for a small synagogue on the ground floor. His plan was denied.

Today, the Lower East Side and New York City preservation communities are working to restore the building to its original splendor. Members of the Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy are leading the fight to generate support for the preservation and restoration of Beth Hemedrash Hagadol.