Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of the Lower East Side, a neighborhood in Manhattan that was a center of Jewish immigrant culture in the 20th century.
Lower East Side
The Latest
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Food Katz’s Deli Opens In Brooklyn — Or Does It?
“It’s not Katz’s; you can’t recreate it — and I’m not going to try.” That’s Jake Dell, the owner of Katz’s, the deli icon that’s been slicing pastrami on the Lower East Side of Manhattan since 1888. But Dell is standing near a glowing red and white sign that, in the deli’s signature font, spells…
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Food Adorable Sailors Discover Knishes During Fleet Week
Fleet Week draws to a close today, but I got a souvenir at Yohah Shimmel Knish Bakery in the form of this photograph. These three sailors, each from different parts of the country, were walking past the venerable Lower East Side bakery and deli and decided that the knishes in the window looked too good…
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Fast Forward 14-Year-Old Neighbor Arrested In Arson Of Historic Lower East Side Synagogue
(JTA) — A 14-year-old boy has been charged with arson in connection with a fire that seriously damaged a historic synagogue on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The boy was arrested Tuesday night at his home near the Beth Hamedrash Hagadol synagogue, the New York Post reported Wednesday morning. He was expected to be arraigned later…
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News Raging Blaze Kills Quixotic Dream Of Revival For 167-Year-Old Lower East Side Synagogue
When a 167-year-old synagogue burned to cinders Sunday, lingering hopes of preserving the old Jewish Lower East Side burned with it. Beth Hamedrash Hagadol had survived a century and half as the most visible monument to a Jewish community that has its spiritual roots on the crowded blocks between the Bowery and the East River….
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Fast Forward Fire That Destroyed Historic Synagogue Was Second In A Week: Neighbors
(JTA) — Neighbors of a historic synagogue on Manhattan’s Lower East Side reportedly said a fire erupted inside the building just days before the three-alarm blaze all but destroyed Beth Hamedrash Hagadol Sunday night. Local residents told the New York Post that the first blaze broke out inside the vacant building, but the paper said…
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News Massive Fire Destroys 120-Year-Old Synagogue On Lower East Side
One hundred and twenty years of Jewish history on Manhattan’s Lower East Side came to a tragic ending on Sunday night, as fire destroyed Beth Hamedrash Hagadol, one of the oldest synagogues in New York. For hours, smoke billowed above the neighborhood, once the heart of Jewish life in the city, and residents gathered to…
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Community How I Lost My Judaism In Five Somber Nights — And Found It Again My Own Way
Twice in my life did the profound symbiosis of community and Judaism yank me by the beard and bear its inescapable weight. The first time came during my father’s shiva. After four months of communal support during his time in the hospital, the Jews of Englewood, New Jersey, my Jews, multiplied their Samsonian efforts, filling…
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Fast Forward Century-Old East Village Synagogue Reopening After $1.2M Development Deal
A 129-year-old East Village congregation is set to reopen after shutting its doors for a $1.2M development deal, the news website dnainfo reported. The Meserich Shul, on East 6th Street near Tompkins Square Park, cut a $1.2 million deal in 2013 with developers East River Partners to build condos on the upper stories of its…
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News Scoop: Heritage Foundation plans to ‘identify and target’ Wikipedia editors
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Music For Bob Dylan’s biographer, ‘A Complete Unknown’ is a dream come true — even if it’s mostly fiction
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Culture In Peter Yarrow’s legacy, an uneasy blend of Jewish values and personal transgressions
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Fast Forward What the election of Pierre Poilievre would mean for Canadian Jews and Israel
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Fast Forward Jewish expert on Egypt to join National Security Council as Middle East director
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Opinion I was hosting a shiva in LA — then the fires started
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Fast Forward Families of American hostages held in Gaza to attend Trump’s inauguration
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News ‘Do you have the Torahs?’ Synagogue races LA wildfire to rescue its past and future
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