Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Food

Yonah Schimmel Knishery Staying Put

Alex Wolfman, a descendant of Yonah Schimmel, the knishery’s original owner. Flickr.

After reporting earlier this week on rumors that 115-year-old Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery might be losing its lease, the Forward received an email today setting the record straight. In a follow-up phone call, the Forward spoke with Ellen Anistratov, daughter of Alex Wolfman, a descendant of Yonah Schimmel.

“It’s not true,” said Anistratov, who is the manager. “I don’t know who started those rumors. It’s crazy. It’s a horrible thing to do. Why would somebody want us out? It’s nonsense.”

“It’s not going anywhere,” she continued. “We’ve been here 100 years, and we hope to be here 100 more. I don’t understand who’s getting a kick out of this.”

Where does Anistratov think the rumors started?

“Nothing coming from us, that’s for sure. They’re saying that we’re closing here and opening somewhere else. I never said that. We will expand, but this is the root of the tree. Why would we close? It doesn’t make sense.”

Hurrah!

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.