The Bayside Jewish Center, a fixture in the community for 77 years, is closing due to a lack of members and will be sold.
Natalie Winter, president of the congregation, said on Monday that members agonized over the decision, but that the expense of operating the building was just getting too high.
“The property is up for sale, but the building is not shut down. We will continue to be open until it’s sold,” Winter said. “This was not an easy decision.”
The rabbi, Moses Kirsh, has left and there will be no religious services at the facility, located at 203-05 32 Ave. Winter indicated that certain programs are remaining open but did not want to elaborate.
“Once the building is sold, we will merge with another viable synagogue,” she said. “No final decision has been made yet but it will be a Conservative synagogue.”
She said she and other members are heartbroken about the closing because “we take pride in the name, which we will take with us wherever we move. It’s sad.”
The congregation was organized in 1938 and moved to its present location more than 60 years ago.
Marilyn Bitterman, district manager of Community Board 7, said she will suggest the site as a possible public school to Borough President Melinda Katz, who is seeking locations for new ones.
22 comments:
It was a hard decision I'm sure
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
maybe they will make it a homeless shelter !!!!!! I would not be surprised
A school would not work there, and PS 159 is only 2 blocks away. There's just not enough space there, and it's right across the street from the Bayside HS athletic fields
Synagogues and Jewish centers have been closing and "merging" due to lack of membership throughout the country. I know they're not all moving to Israel since they have a Jewish migration problem as well. Thats exacerbated by the fact that they've had a demographic issue for decades. They're simply not reproducing enough relative to minorities. Perhaps that is what is happening here in the US as well.
Another sacrifice to the altar of diversity.
Maybe they will make it an Asian Church to better serve the neighborhood.
You can't go home again.
It's pretty ridiculous that CB7 was quoted in this article, considering that the Bayside Jewish Center is deep within CB11.
It's very convenient for Ms. Bitterman to lobby for a school in someone else's Community Board.
I hope CB11 is paying attention and returns the favor.
I attended St. Gabriel's Catholic Elementary School on Astoria Blvd & 98th Street in East Elmhurst from 1961-65.
After years of struggling to survive, the building was sold a few years ago to NYC, and is now a Public School.
Religious institutions of every type (schools, churches, synagogues) are suffering financial hardships in the current economy.
As hard as it is, sometimes they just have no option but to throw in the towel....
Any idea what the property is worth?
Despite a few redoubled efforts in the deep South, religion on the whole is waning in America. "Not religious" is the fastest growing sector. Lack of money/time/interest? Who knows for sure...
Newsflash!!!
Brian Williams hid Jewish families from the Nazi's in this building!
News at 11 on your local NBC affiliate.
The old Jewish presence and power is waning in northeast Queens. What about the Garden Jewish Center nearby where Bitterman lives. It is closed too. CB7 sits in its tookas while things go to pot in general all over their district. Is it not time for Marilyn Bitterman to retire? What does she need $90,000 a year for with the kids grown up and virtually inexpensive digs in Mitchel Gardens? Jack has quite an appetite for food but $90,000 could keep him in fillet mignon and French wine for a year.
Hope it doesn't become a mosque. That would be some reversal.
Oy vey. The alta kakkas are gone so no need for the building any more. Build a high rise and let those snotty Baysiders get a taste of downtown Flushing.
"Let snotty Baysiders get a taste of downtown Flushing."
Why ?
A number of Catholic schools in Queens have been converted to public schools. St Stans in Ozone Park was recently torn down and replaced by a huge public school and playground. St Stan's was nearly 100 years old.
Many exited to Florida in hordes.
Their children want no part oh kids in Queens public schools and flee to Great Neck & Roslyn for the public Long island schools & synagogs.
They sellout in a rush TO ANYBODY when the kids graduate and the process repeats itself.
Why? Because those, snotty Baysiders think their shit don't stink and never united with Flushingites to hold down overbuilding in the Flushing downtown hub. They are isolationists who rarely participate with other groups. "This won't happen in Bayside so why get involved in Flushing. We are protected by our zoning". This is the Bayside credo. Build up Bayside. Let them take their fair share of up zoning....the spoiled brats.
As soon as Toby Stavisky is gone, Bayside Jewish power will disappear completely...what little remains. Koreans have targeted Bayside for their homes. And, isn't that right? Many Bayside Jews were Bronx expatriots who fled the ghetto in the 1950s. Time for a turnover in the population. That is the way history works.
Temple Beth Sholom on Northern Blvd. rents out its facility to a church on Sunday. The other former synagogue across the boulevard is now a Korean church. A second exodus of Jews has occurred. A lot of churches are closing too. Has everyone had enough of "that old time religion"? Or has modern Man and Woman changed their concept of G-d?
I describe myself as a man of faith not religion. Religion has become more a matter of money and hypocrisy. My prayers go directly to the Creator, whoever He or She or It might be. My church is the sky above and the mud below.
Yes, churches, temples , synagogues, mosques, meeting houses, are great places for fellowship. But times and tastes change. The Great Spirit is eternal.
Not to worry, another Korean church is needed. Asians have lots of children, and Whitey wants gadgets and other crap. Think with Asians Bayside will not become Jamaica. It prevented Flushing from that demise.
A high school for 800 kids two blocks from a high school and 1 block from an elementary school. What the hell are they thinking?
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