This first photo is of the damaged remains of what was Beth Hamedrash Hagodol on Norfolk between Grand and Broome. The oldest Russian Orthodox Jewish congregation in the United States, and the first Eastern European one in NYC, the congregation bought the building that stood at 60-64 Norfolk in 1885, 35 years after its construction as the Norfolk Street Baptist Church. The building has been out of use since 2007, but the rumor is that its owners had wanted to develop the land into residential real-estate, and were frustrated with the limitations posed by the building’s Landmark status; in 2017 the building burnt down under suspicious circumstances, and stands in ruins now, presumably to be converted into condominiums.
In a previous post I discussed the city's plan to demolish the LaGuardia Bathhouse building, one of the oldest public baths in NYC, an attempt in-part to save face in the wake of the recently unveiled plans to raise the East River Park. I anticipate similar news for the "White House", the former Rivington Street Public Baths, which sits squatly in the middle of the Baruch Houses, maybe a 15 minute walk from the LaGuardia Bathhouse building. A short history: At 118 years old, the Baruch Bathhouse building is not only the oldest public bathhouse in the city, but also the first of its kind to be opened in New York. It's namesake, Dr. Simon Baruch, was an Eastern European Jew who moved to South Carolina in 1855 (at 15 years old) to live with, and work for, a wealthy German-Jewish family. After receiving his medical degree in 1862, Baruch served as a surgeon in the f*cking Confederate army (even treating soldiers for weeks after the defeat at Gettys
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