Readers of the lost synagogues

As the project grew, Levitt discovered that synagogues that had not been burned or torn down were adapted for other uses. Some became private homes, one is a correctional facility, another is used for city maintenance and one is even a mosque — but most are now churches.

One key to locating them was the Works Progress Administration’s Survey of Houses of Worship in NYC, done in 1939-40. But that was only good up to a point, she said, because many synagogues were built in the post-World War II era.

“Some of these synagogues opened in the ‘50s and ‘60s and are already closed,” she explained. “For Queens, I had to just start Googling. I also looked at the Queens Jewish Council.”

“Sometimes in Queens it was just harder,” she said. “They’re more spread out than in the Bronx and even in Brooklyn.”

Levitt, who will be speaking before the Queens Historical Society on the lost synagogues this Sunday, said that was largely because much of Queens was built up in the postwar era when urban planning around the private automobile was in full swing.

“There’s even this suburban sprawl that you see among the Jewish congregations in Queens that you don’t see in Brooklyn or the Bronx,” she continued.”The Queens former synagogues are among the few that have parking lots.”

While Levitt attributes much of the synagogue abandonment in the Bronx to the emigration of Jews to other parts of the city, she said the situation in Queens was much different.

“Some of it was consolidation of synagogues, some Jews have become less affiliated or they’re moving towards small, very orthodox synagogues,” Levitt said. “Jamaica has changed greatly, Forest Hills still has many Jews, but often it’s economics. Sometimes I’m not even sure how some synagogues [in still very Jewish areas] got left in the wake.”

But there is good news for architecture buffs and historians who want to explore Jewish history in Queens: most of the 27 “lost” synagogues in the borough retain some visible sign of their former lives as Jewish houses of worship.

The former Corona Hebrew School on 53rd Avenue, for example, boasts large stars of David on either side of its gate. Names written in Hebrew are displayed on pillars and walls on the porch. After the Jewish congregation left, the building became a private residence and music studio, and was home to Madonna, pre-fame, in the late 1970s.

Another great example is the former Young Israel of Laurelton on 228th Street. It’s a boxy 1956 building that displays a cornerstone with the Hebrew and secular dates. But its most intriguing feature is the huge window above the main entrance in the shape of a Jewish star, an emblem that the Jamaica-Queens Wesleyan Church has kept as is.

Levitt said this is not uncommon.

“The Christian congregations have retained a lot of the Judaica: menorahs, Jewish stars,” she said. “From a historical point of view it’s gratifying to know there is this stuff that you can see.”

But, Levitt cautioned, if you want to see these historic buildings with their markers of Jewish identity intact, there is no time like the present. On some of her return visits Levitt noted elements were often missing that now exist only in her photographs.

“To me, it’s preservation,” Levitt said. “You want to expose people to the fact that there are all these buildings out there. If someone didn’t go around and document them all they would be scanty memories and die out. I wanted to make collections and show everyone where they are. If you want to go, go before it’s too late.”

Talk on the Lost Synagogues of Queens

When: Sunday, Jan. 8, at 2:30 p.m.

Where: Queens Historical Society, 143-35 37 Ave., Flushing

Tickets: Free

(718) 939-0647 x17

queenshistoricalsociety.org