Manhattan Beach Jewish Center is a historic

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

and community center located in the Manhattan Beach neighborhood of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

Kings County, New York Kings or King's may refer to: *Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'' ...

. Located at 60 West End Avenue, the synagogue was completed in 1952. It was designed by Jacob W. Sherman in the

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 200 ...

style, similar to European synagogues of the 1930s, Ten years after the synagogue was opened, the adjoining seven-story community center was built. It is an example of the "Jewish Center" movement which was coming into its own at the time. The synagogue is a two-story-and-mezzanine Modern Movement building with a

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

façade and granite base. It has a short tower and recessed shallow entrance porch, flanked on either side by a single unadorned column. The Orthodox Jewish community which built the synagogue and adjoining community center is itself over 90 years old. During Superstorm Sandy, the Center experienced serious damage. NYS Assemblyman

Steven Cymbrowitz Steven H. Cymbrowitz (born November 14, 1953) is a former Democratic member of the New York State Assembly representing Assembly District 45, which consists of Brighton Beach, Manhattan Beach and Midwood, among other communities located in th ...

reported witnessing 350,000 gallons of water and oil being pumped out of the basement. Two years after the storm, the Center was still recovering. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2015, one of only two properties in all of New York City to be nominated for the distinction by then-Governor

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cuo ...

, to both the State and National Registers of Historic Places.

References

External links

Manhattan Beach Jewish Center website
Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn Synagogues completed in 1952 Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Brooklyn Synagogues in Brooklyn Synagogues on the National Register of Historic Places in New York City Modernist synagogues {{NYC-religious-struct-stub