About Stanton Street Synagogue
Religion, Synagogues, Interesting Places
Stanton Street Synagogue, also known as Stanton Street Shul and Congregation Bnai Jacob Anshei Brzezan (Yiddish: קאנגרעגיישאן בני יעקב אנשי ברזעזאן, "Congregation Sons of Jacob, People of Brzezan"), is a historic synagogue located at 180 Stanton Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York. It was constructed in 1913 by a landsmanshaft from the town of Brzeżany in southeast Galicia. One of the few surviving tenement-style synagogues, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. That same year, the synagogue's congregants went to court over an attempt by its rabbi and board members to sell the aging structure to an organization run by a Jesuit priest. The resultant settlement and media attention led to a resurgence in interest in the synagogue. In 2012 its membership stands at about 100 congregants, representing a wide, intergenerational mix. The Stanton Street Synagogue was founded as a traditional, or Orthodox, house of worship and remains so until today.