Landmarks Preservation Commission

May 20, 1997, Designation List 280

LP-1960

PIKE STREET SYNAGOGUE (CONGREGATION SONS OF ISRAEL

KALWARIE), 13-15 Pike Street, Manhattan. Built 1903-04; Alfred E. Badt, architect.

Landmark Site: Borough of Manhattan Tax Map Block 283, Lot 45.

On March 18, 1997, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing on the
proposed designation as a Landmark of the Pike Street Synagogue (Congregation Sons of Israel
Kalwarie), and the proposed designation of the related Landmark Site (Item No. 3).1 The hearing
had been duly advertised in accordance with the provisions of law. There was one speaker in favor
of designation. The owner did not take a position but asked that the record be left open.

Summary

The Pike Street Synagogue,

constructed in 1903-04 for the
Congregation Sons of Israel Kalwarie, is a
rare surviving synagogue building from that
period of New York's history when the
Lower East Side served as America's main
portal for millions of Jewish immigrants.
Designed by the architect Alfred E. Badt,
this limestone-fronted building with its twin,
lateral staircases up to the porticoed main
entrance, and double stair towers projecting
from the main facade creates an imposing
presence on the crowded street. The basic
form and massing of the building followed
a stylistic precedent deriving from the
Romanesque Revival and the German
Rundbogenstil. At the same time, the
architect included details which relate to the
general classicizing tendencies in American
architecture of the turn of the century.
When constructed, this synagogue was one of the largest on the Lower East Side, and one of the few
built specifically for this purpose. The Congregation Sons of Israel Kalwarie, started in 1853,
continued to worship in this building until the 1980s. The building stood vacant for several years, but
recently has been rehabilitated for a variety of uses with a Buddhist temple on the main level,
apartments above, and commercial space on the ground floor.

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 DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS

The Jewish Community in New York2 and on countries and towns of origin, each group
The first Jews arrived in the Dutch colony of supporting its own synagogue.
Nieuw Amsterdam in 1654, coming from Brazil in an The population density of the area allowed for the
unsuccessful attempt to reach Holland. Although the existence of many synagogues in a neighborhood, most
Jews were allowed to stay in the colony, they gained of which were small groups which rented rooms where
political as well as religious rights only when the they could hold their services. Once a congregation
British took control in 1664. Around 1682, the first reached a certain size and had enough financial
Jewish congregation in New York was established: resources, it often rented or purchased an existing
Congregation Shearith Israel or Remnant of Israel. It building, in many cases a former church. Among the
was not until 1729 that the congregation constructed early nineteenth century congregations on the Lower
its first synagogue building, a small structure on Mill East Side, only Shaarey Tefilah (1845, 112 Wooster
Street (now William Street) which served until 1818, Street, demolished), Anshe Slonim (1849-50, 172
when it was replaced with a larger one. Between 1815 Norfolk Street, a designated New York City
and 1825 the Jewish population of New York swelled Landmark), Rodeph Shalom (1853, 8 Clinton Street,
to 500, with immigrants coming mostly from Europe now Congregation Chasam Sopher), and the Eldridge
primarily because of the fall of Napoleon. In 1825 a Street Synagogue (1887, Khal Adas Jeshurun with
group of German and Polish Jews broke away from Anshe Lubz, 12-16 Eldridge Street, a designated New
Congregation Shearith Israel to form their own York City Landmark) erected new buildings for their
synagogue, Congregation B’nai Jeshrun. This was the own use. Of the 350 New York congregations in
beginning of a trend, as numerous other congregations existence in 1905, fewer than fifty worshiped in
were then created out of existing groups because of buildings constructed as synagogues.3
political differences, different interpretations of Congregation Sons of Israel Kalwarie
religious law and customs, or simply because of the In 1852 an important Orthodox synagogue was
desire to worship with fellow countrymen using organized called the Beth Hamedrash or House of
common rituals. By 1860 there were approximately Study. This was the first synagogue in America which
27 synagogues in New York City, most of which trained rabbis who could perform various important
resulted from divisions within existing synagogues. ritual functions and interpret the law. Previously,
This growth in the number of congregations was rabbinic decisions had to be obtained from rabbis in
supported by, but not wholly attributable to, the Europe, and special jobs such as the supervision of
increasing Jewish population which rose to 10,000 in kosher butchering were left up to the individual
1846 and then to 60,000 in 1880. synagogues.
During the early eighteenth century, most of New Desiring to create their own rabbinic school, a
York's Jews lived close together downtown, indicated small group of Russian-Polish Jews broke from this
by the fact that Shearith Israel built, and then rebuilt congregation in 1853, and formed the Beth
its synagogue on Mill Street. Typically, immigrants of Hamedrash Livne Yisroel Yelide Polen (House of
common backgrounds often chose to live near each Study of the Children of Israel Born in Poland). A
other in an effort to provide mutual support in their man named Judah Middleman became their first rabbi,
new land. As they became more comfortable in their and the group rented a room on Walker and Baxter
new home and achieved more financial success, they streets in which to hold services.4 By 1882, it had
were often willing to move away from the original taken the name Congregation and Chevra Ukadisha
group. Thus by the 1820s, the area of Broadway, [burial society] B'nai Israel Mikalwarie (Sons of Israel
Laight, Charlton, Greene, and Wooster Streets began from Kalwarie, or Kalwarja, a small town on the
attracting some wealthier Jews. By the 1830s and Polish-Lithuanian border) and purchased a building
1840s the area around Bayard, Baxter, Mott, and located at 13-15 Pike Street. 5 It remodeled this
Chatham Streets was home to many Dutch, German, previously residential building for use as a synagogue.6
and Polish Jews, while Chrystie, Market, Henry, and The congregation continued to grow and prosper, and
Division Streets began to attract many other new housed a well respected, progressive religious school
Jewish immigrants and became the nucleus of what for children run by Mr. Albert Lucas.7 With an influx
came to be known as the Jewish Lower East Side. As of new immigrants around the turn of the century,
this neighborhood became more densely populated, there was a need for more space. In 1903 the
synagogue congregations subdivided based on kinship congregation moved to temporary quarters while

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building a large new structure on the site.8 uncovering synagogue structures dating back to the
The new synagogue opened to great ceremony in Greco-Roman period which displayed classical forms.
March 1904.9 Several rabbis from other important In 1897, the well-known synagogue architect, Arnold
synagogues gave speeches, as did Rabbi Israel Cooper, Brunner designed a temple-fronted structure for
who had been serving as leader of this congregation Shearith Israel on Central Park West and West 70th
for 25 years. The building could seat 1,500 people, Street which included huge columns, pilasters, and a
making it one of the largest in the area. Because of its large pediment. This building set a precedent for the
size, this building often was used for large meetings use of classical forms and ornament on other
and ceremonies.10 synagogues of the period.

Synagogue Architecture The Pike Street Synagogue

Except for some direction as to the interior The Sons of Israel Kalwarie congregation hired
arrangement of several important ritual objects, the architect Alfred E. Badt to create the plans for its new
Jewish religion does not dictate the form of synagogue synagogue. Little is known of Badt. His name
buildings. Jewish prayer services can occur in appears in New York City directories only for the year
individual rooms, former church buildings, or private 1904. He is associated with several tenements and
houses. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, rowhouses in New York, including 23 Thompson
however, American architects started looking for an Street and 118 East 17th Street.
“appropriate” synagogue style. During this period, The building for the Congregation Sons of Israel
when a style was valued for its associations, both Kalwarie draws on many of the forms and ornamental
Gothic and Romanesque Revival designs connoted the styles described above. The Romanesque or
ancient character of the religion. 11 The Romanesque Rundbogenstil influence can be seen in several areas
design trends were also part of America's adaptation of of the building, including the plan, a basilica on a
the Rundbogenstil as it was brought here by German raised basement; the corbel table near the roofline; and
architects and publications at mid-century. 12 the round arches over the entrance, in the blind arcade
Several mid-nineteenth century synagogue which crowns the building, and the window openings
buildings provided precedents which became generally which are further enhanced with bifurcation. The
accepted forms for this building type. Eidlitz and tripartite facade with its projecting stair towers
Blesch’s Wooster Street synagogue for Congregation flanking the raised center section follows a well-
Shaarey Tefilah in 1848 with its round-arched established format. Double lateral stairs (with
openings and corbel table at the roofline, was the first precedents ranging from Michelangelo's Senator's
to use the Romanesque vocabulary. In Anshe Slonim, Palace in Rome to P. B. Wight's Academy of Design)
architect Alexander Saeltzer was the first to use lead to a recessed entrance, with openings set between
distinct, projecting tower forms flanking the central elegant columns. These and other columns near the
section of the facade. These towers served the windows, as well as the classical moldings displayed
practical purpose of enclosing interior stairs to the throughout the facade, reflect the classicizing
women’s galleries. Congregation B’nai Jeshrun built tendencies of this period.
a new building on Greene Street in 1851 (demolished)
which was very similar to Anshe Slonim, with its twin Description
towers and pointed-arch openings. In addition, like This smooth-faced, limestone building is three
Anshe Slonim, the three main doors in the central stories high above a raised basement.14 A wide
section of the facade were raised above ground level bandcourse separates the main floor from the basement
and reached by a set of stairs. Rodeph Shalom, which while another bandcourse (with brackets and extra
built its synagogue on Clinton Street in 1853 (now moldings in the center section) is located above the
Congregation Chasam Sopher), reverted back to the first story. Above the windows, further horizontal
round-arched style but maintained the twin stair- emphasis is provided by a small, round-arched corbel
blocks which “had become a permanent feature of the table, embellished by a rosette within each arch. This
synagogue facade.” 13 in turn is capped by another bandcourse and then a
Near the turn of the century, synagogue architects, larger, round-arched, blind arcade. Within these
like other American designers, were influenced by the arches are shallow indications of bifurcated windows,
return to classicism which became common after the and small rosettes are located in the spandrels between
World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893. At this same the arches. A final cornice and a flat roof crown the
time, archeological expeditions in Palestine were facade.

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Base: Upper level:
Symmetrically arranged, the tripartite facade has Above the main story, the central, recessed section
twin projecting towers at each side with a recessed of the facade has three bays with round-headed,
section in between. The central entrance on the raised double-height windows. Originally filled with stained
main story is reached by a double lateral staircase glass, these windows retain their original shape
fronted by balustrades. The stone newels have (bifurcated and topped by a large, circular window),
simplified arches and capitals and are capped by with narrow columns between them. 16 Each side tower
gabled roof-like forms. A short, segmental-arched contains a single bay with paired windows on each of
window covered by a metal grille is located at the the two levels. At the lower level, the two rectangular
basement level in each of the tower sections. At the openings are linked by a narrow column. Above this is
center of the basement level, under the stairway, are a round-arched, bifurcated window with columns and
three segmental-arched openings topped by narrow moldings, similar in arrangement to those on the main
moldings. Originally two windows with a central floor of the towers.
door, all three openings are now full length. A
recessed area is located within these openings, with Later History
non-historic doors leading to the ground floor store and The Congregation Sons of Israel Kalwarie existed
to the apartments in the upper stories. for more than one hundred years. By the late 1970s
the membership had declined drastically and the
Main level: synagogue building was vandalized and in disrepair.
In the center section of the main level, the Some members of the congregation wanted to sell the
entrance is recessed within a portico with three property while others did not, precipitating a court
openings, defined by attenuated columns with foliate battle for the right to sell. By 1994, the building was
capitols. The columns carry round-headed, blind purchased by a developer who renovated it for a
arches edged with simple moldings which have been variety of uses. The ground floor houses commercial
covered by panels with Chinese lettering. Within the space, the main floor serves as a Buddhist temple, and
portico the ceiling is divided into three sections, each the upper levels have been converted to housing. The
vaulted with what appear to be Guastavino tiles.15 major exterior adaptation has been the replacement of
Three non-historic red doors lead to the building's the original stained glass windows, most of which
main floor. Two stone lions flank the portico and a were missing or broken. The building continues to
large incense holder is located in the middle of this contribute a significant historical and cultural presence
area (all added in the renovation). Each of the side to its local community.
towers at this level has a large, round-headed,
bifurcated window highlighted by narrow, engaged Report prepared by
columns and a crisp egg-and-dart molding. Virginia Kurshan
Research Department

NOTES

1. The Pike Street Synagogue had been the subject of a previous public hearing on September 11, 1984 (Item No.
8), LP-1514. This hearing was continued until November 13, 1984 (Item No. 2). At that hearing there were
three speakers in favor of designation. The Commission took no action at that time.

2. The information in this section was compiled from the following sources: Gerald Wolfe, The Synagogues of
New York’s Lower East Side (New York: Washington Mews Books, 1978); Hyman B. Grinstein, The Rise of
the Jewish Community of New York, 1654-1860 (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1945);
“New York City,” in Encyclopedia Judaica 12 (Jerusalem: Encyclopedia Judaica, 1971), 1062-1075; and LPC,
Anshe Slonim Synagogue Designation Report (LP-1440) (New York: City of New York, 1987), report
prepared by Virginia Kurshan.

3. Wolfe, 31.

4. Wolfe, 25-26, and Grinstein, 474.

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5. New York County, Office of the Register. Liber Deeds and Conveyances, Liber 1658, Page 124.

6. New York City, Department of Buildings, Manhattan. Plans, Permits and Dockets. Alt.796 - 1882.

7. "The Pike Street Synagogue," The Hebrew Standard, June 26, 1903, 4. The newspaper was enthusiastic about
the religious school at the Pike Street Synagogue, stating that the education of children was vitally important
and that in this school it was being undertaken in a modern way and in "a language they understand." The
newspaper also praised the plans for the new building, which included "fine and airy classrooms."

8. New York City, Department of Buildings, Manhattan. Plans, Permits and Dockets, NB 265-1903.

9. "New Jewish Synagogue Open," The Hebrew Standard, March 18, 1904, 4.

10. One such meeting took place on January 10, 1913, at a lecture by Rabbi Judah L. Magnes. This well-known
rabbi had just broken with Reform Judaism and this lecture turned out to be the start of the modern orthodox
Young Israel Movement. Wolfe, 90-91.

11. Moorish designs also came to be seen as acceptable because of the long Jewish presence in Moorish Spain.
After the German architect, Gottfried Semper, designed a synagogue in Dresden (1838-40) which displayed a
mixture of Byzantine and Saracenic forms, these were also used on American synagogues. Later, the Gothic
style came to be seen as too closely related to the Christian religion to be appropriate.

12. Kathleen Curran, "The German Rundbogenstil and Reflections on the American Round-Arched Style,"
Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 47 (Dec. 1988), 351-373. The Rundbogenstil was the result
of an effort by progressive German architects to create a synthesis of classical and medieval architecture by
drawing on historical precedents in the round-arched Byzantine, Romanesque, and Renaissance styles. The
bifurcated window, as seen on the Pike Street Synagogue, including a large, round arch with a pair of
inscribed windows topped by a bull's eye tympanum, was a common motif of this style. Thought by nineteenth
century theorists to have originated in northern Italy during the Romanesque period and widely used during
the Renaissance, this form became a hallmark of the nineteenth-century round-arched styles, both here and in
Germany. See also LPC, 128 West 18th Street Stable Designation Report (LP-1816) (New York: City of New
York, 1990), report prepared by Gale Harris.

13. Wischnitzer, 56.

14. Repairs have been made to the limestone at numerous places on the facade.

15. This author has not yet been able to verify this.

16. All the windows except the two behind the stairs have been replaced by non-historic, vinyl-covered sash.

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 FINDINGS AND DESIGNATION

On the basis of a careful consideration of the history, the architecture, and other features
of this building, the Landmarks Preservation Commission finds that the Pike Street Synagogue
(Congregation Sons of Israel Kalwarie) has a special character, and special historical and aesthetic
interest and value as part of the development, heritage, and cultural characteristics of New York
City.

The Commission further finds that, among its important qualities, the Pike Street Synagogue,
constructed in 1903-04, is one of the oldest synagogue structures surviving on New York's Lower
East Side; that it was built for one of New York's early Orthodox congregations, the
Congregation Sons of Israel Kalwarie, founded in 1853, and served as this group's spiritual home
for more than seventy years; that this building was one of the few built on the Lower East Side
specifically as a synagogue, and served as an important symbol and meeting place for the area for
many years; that the architect Alfred E. Badt used a variety of historic forms for this building,
including round-arched windows and projecting stair towers derived from the Romanesque
Revival, as well as classical columns and moldings, to create a grand and imposing facade on one
of the area's wider streets; that the architectural elegance and historical associations of this
building continue to enhance the neighborhood in its present adaptation.

Accordingly, pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 74, Section 3020 of the Charter of the
City of New York and Chapter 3 of Title 25 of the Administrative Code of the City of New York,
the Landmarks Preservation Commission designates as a Landmark the Pike Street Synagogue
(Congregation Sons of Israel Kalwarie), 13-15 Pike Street, Borough of Manhattan, and
designates Borough of Manhattan Tax Map Block 283, Lot 45 as its Landmark Site.

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Pike Street Synagogue, 13-15 Pike Street, Manhattan
Photo: Carl Forster
Pike Street Synagogue, window details
Photos: Carl Forster
Pike Street Synagogue, upper stories
Photo: Carl Forster

Pike Street Synagogue, entrance detail

Photo: Carl Forster
Pike Street Synagogue, stair detail
Photo: Carl Forster

Pike Street Synagogue, stair detail

Photo: Carl Forster
 Pike Street Synagogue, 13-15 Pike Street, Manhattan
Landmark Site: Borough of Manhattan Tax Map Block 283, Lot 45
Source: Sanborn Manhattan Landbook, 1996-97, Plate 13
 Pike Street Synagogue, 13-15 Pike Street, Manhattan
Landmark Site: Borough of Manhattan Tax Map Block 283, Lot 45
Source: Sanborn Manhattan Landbook, 1996-97, Plate 13