This is 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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Fast Forward Board Wants Fire-Ravaged Lower East Side Shul To Be Demolished
NEW YORK (JTA) — A historic synagogue on Manhattan’s Lower East Side ravaged by a fire last month may soon be demolished. NY 1 reported that the local community board approved a proposal to tear down the Beth Hamedrash Hagadol synagogue on Norfolk Street. The committee urged the synagogue’s owners to determine whether pieces of the building can be…
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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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