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Montefiore Hebrew Congregation Synagogue
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Montefiore Hebrew Congregation Synagogue, 1938. The Montefiore Hebrew Congregation was founded in 1901 and six years later moved into their brand new synagogue on Hewitt Place. The Romanesque building was modeled on eastern European synagogue styles but is also topped with a pair of—somewhat fanciful— onion domes, more common in the Eastern Orthodox Christian tradition. For two decades the congregation was led by an impassioned and dynamic leader named Rabbi Jacob Katz. Russian born, he arrived to New York City as toddler, later attending City College, Columbia, and Jewish Theological Seminary before getting a law degree from NYU. He began his career at a Flatbush synagogue before taking the leadership in 1920 of this Bronx community. He also served for 32 years as the chaplain at Sing-Sing Prison. As chaplain he attended to the spiritual needs of the general population and as well as more than 70 men executed for their crimes. Rabbi Katz moved on from Montefiore in the early 1940s. The religious building was designated a landmark in 1980 (as part of the Longwood Historic District) while serving as the home of the Hewitt Place United Church. The imposing structure still stands, with its eye-catching roofline, but sans its ornate stained glass (which is either lost or covered up).
Hunts Point Branch, NYPL
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Hunts Point Branch, NYPL, 1929. The Hunts Point Branch of the New York Public Library was the final Carnegie Library to be built in the city. Built in 1928-1929 and designed by Carrère & Hastings, and funded by Andrew Carnegie's endowment, the Italian-Renaissance style building remains the neighborhood library today. The architects of this building designed the main branch of NYPL as well as 13 other Carnegie Libraries. This structure is unique in that it is the only Carnegie built by Carrère & Hastings that utilized terra cotta.
Hunts Point Branch, NYPL
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Hunts Point Branch. NYPL 877 Southern Boulevard Designed by Carrère & Hastings, 1929 NYC IL The Hunts Point Branch bears the distinction of being the very last of the Carnegie-funded NYPL branches to be built and was among the 14 Carnegie-funded branches to be designed by Carrère & Hastings. The two-story, palazzo-inspired structure was designed in the Italian Renaissance Revival style with a blind arcade at the base and arched windows throughout. Its brick façades are accented with ornate terra-cotta details and stone trim. At the time of its construction, automobiles had become a common mode of transportation, so the facility also includes a one-story garage on its west side. The garage housed the Bronx Book Wagon, which served the community from 1928 (a year before the library opened) until the 1980s. Hunts Point was designated a New York City Individual Landmark in 2009.
985 Prospect Avenue
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Loew's Burland Theatre, 1938. The Loew's Burland originally opened in 1896 as an open air theatre that was only open during the warm summer months. The theatre seen in this photograph opened in 1913 and had both an indoor and outdoor theatre that could house more than 3000 patrons total. Not originally opened as a Loew's theatre, it is not clear when it became part of that circuit. The theatre closed in 1971 and is currently occupied by a laundromat.
Woodstock Branch, NYPL
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New York Public Library, Woodstock Branch, ca. 1915. This Bronx Carnegie Library was designed by the venerable firm of McKim, Mead & White and constructed in 1913-1914. The Renaissance Revival building shares many of the same features as other NYC Carnegies including brick with limestone cladding and the general shape and palazzo-style front. It is almost identical to the West 40th Street Branch, also designed by McKim, Mead & White, and finished a year before this one.
Prospect Theatre
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Prospect Theatre, April 26, 1938. Opened November 12, 1910, the Prospect Theatre was designed by Charles E. Horn, with interior decoration and murals by French artist, Arthur Brounet. When completed it was one of the largest theatres in the Bronx with seating for 1,600. The original offers of the venue were legitimate theatre, vaudeville, burlesque, and Yiddish theatre. By the 1930s the space was converted into a movie theatre (an all too common transformation of New York theatres). This April 1938 photograph captures the marquee advertises 'I Met My Love Again' with Joan Bennett and Henry Fonda. The theatre was operated by RKO for many years. The recently history of the still-standing building is unfortunately bleak. It is unclear exactly when the movie theatre went out of business, but the space was renovated in 2000 for a short-lived concert venue. While the restoration was comprehensive, the concert hall was an unsuccessful business venture that closed in 2006. Over the next few years the venue was occupied (also short-lived) by a church who largely gutted the interior. As of 2018, the building remains in rough and neglected condition, inside and out, with no concrete plans for its future.
St. Augustine Presbyterian Church
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Woodstock Presbyterian Church, 1938. This brick neo-Gothic church was constructed in 1906 for the Woodstock Presbyterian Church. That congregation occupied this building until it merged with the Home Street Presbyterian Church in 1938 and moved to their quaint wood-frame 1910 church at 1017 Home Street. Since 1938 the church had been owned by the St. Augustine Presbyterian Church, which was established that year. A popular community for African American and Puerto Rican neighbors, the church boomed during the 1940s and 1950s. The founder pastor, Edler Garnett Hawkins, was the first African-American moderator of the General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church and active in the civil rights movement. St. Augustine is still an active congregation today.
Hunts Point Branch, NYPL
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"877 Southern Boulevard. New York Public Library Hunts Point Branch. Children outside library, 1929." This photograph is likely on the opening day of the library.
Franklin Theatre
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Franklin Theatre, 1928. Built by successful theatre owner and producer B.S. Moss and named for Benjamin Franklin (Moss was a Franklin fanboy), the Beaux-Arts venue opened in 1921. Designed by famed theatre architect Eugene DeRosa, the space had a capacity for nearly 3000 patrons. Originally presenting Keith-Albee vaudeville and movies, the theatre eventually became strictly a movie house. In 1954 the theatre was robbed at gunpoint. While a movie was playing, the manager and two staff were forced to hand over $2,500 and their own jewelry, before being handcuffed to water pipes. The victims called out for almost an hour before they were heard by a few movie-goers. The theatre closed by the 1960s and the space was converted into a supermarket. The building was demolished in the 1980s and a garden apartment complex was constructed in the site.
Photos
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888-898 Westchester Avenue
S.E. Cor. Westchester & Stebbins Ave. N.Y.C. Stores # 898 - 896 - 894 - 892 - 890 - 888 Westchester Ave.
Westchester Avenue at East 162nd Street
\[East Side Viaduct, Westchester Avenue: IRT East Side Line] Survey photograph of work in progress on the East Side Viaduct of the IRT East Side Line on Westchester Avenue, Bronx.
861 East 162nd Street
Bronx: 162nd Street (East) - Prospect Avenue 861 to 883 E. 162nd Street north side, east from but not including Prospect Avenue, to Westchester Avenue (elevated thereon). No. 861, a 4 story frame and brick building, is the Franklin Casino. April 26, 1938. P. L. Sperr
Franklin Theatre
Franklin Theatre
Bronx: Prospect Avenue - 161st Street (East) 887 Prospect Avenue, west side, between E. 161st and E. 162nd Streets, showing the Franklin Theatre. April 26, 1938. P. L. Sperr
939 Intervale Avenue
939 Intervale Avenue, on the southwest corner of 163rd Street, Bronx, April 24, 1918.
Prospect Theatre
887 Union Avenue
Bronx: Union Avenue - 161st Street 887 and 889 (left to right) Union Ave., north of the N.W. corner of East 161st Street. About 1924. W. B. Vernaw.
985 Prospect Avenue
Machtzikel Talmud Torah Torath Moses Synagogue
Bronx: Prospect Avenue - Macy Place Prospect Avenue (right), at the S.E. corner of Macy Place, showing the Machtzikel Talmud Torah Torath Moses Synagogue. April 26, 1938 P. L. Sperr.
809 Westchester Avenue
809 Westchester Avenue and 158th Street. Burland Casino interior showing ceiling.
809 Westchester Avenue
809 Westchester Avenue and 158th Street. Burland Casino interior showing ceiling.
Montefiore Hebrew Congregation Synagogue
St. Augustine Presbyterian Church
1021 Prospect Avenue
Bronx: Prospect Avenue - 165th Street (East) 1021 to 1027 Prospect Avenue, at, and adjoining the N.W. corner of E. 165th Street. April 26, 1938.
901 East 156th Street
Apartment building at E. 156th Street and Hewett Place, Bronx, undated (ca. October 1916).
986 Tinton Avenue
986 to 1004 Tinton Avenue, Bronx, August 18, 1915. Photographed for Joseph P. Day.
Tiffany Street and Fox Street
Bronx: Tiffany Street - Fox Street Tiffany Street, west side, north from Fox Street. In the background is visible the elevated trestle of the I.R.T. Lexington Ave. subway line, on Westchester Ave. 1923\. Eeystone View Co., Inc., of New York. NMeg i S0S
Woodstock Branch, NYPL
761 East 160th Street between Forest and Tinton Avenues. New York Public Library, Woodstock Branch.
Woodstock Branch, NYPL
Bronx 29, Woodstock Public Library, 761 E. 160th St; Jerry Spearman, Photographer
811-827 Fox Street
5 frames: wide shot, street level views of abandoned 4-story attached apartment buildings, vacant lot in foreground.
Prospect Avenue and East 156th Street
Bronx: 165th Street (East) - Prospect Avenue East 165th Street, north side, west from Prospect Ave., to Tinton Ave. In the background, extending from Union to Tinton Aves., is Public School No. 23. April 26, 1938. P. L. Sperr.
Prospect Avenue and East 156th Street
Bronx: 156th Street (East) - Prospect Avenue E 156th Street, east from but not including Prospect Avenue. The street bends southward at Hewitt Place. April 26, 1938. P. L. Sperr
829 Southern Boulevard
Bronx: Southern Boulevard - Intervale Avenue 829 Southern Boulevard, at the S.W. corner of Intervale Ave. About 1923. S.
1053 Prospect Avenue
Bronx: Prospect Avenue - 165th Street (East) 1047 to 1053 Prospect Avenue, west side, between E. 165th and E. 166th Streets. April 26, 1938. P. L. Sperr
Hunts Point Branch, NYPL
Bronx: Southern Boulevard - Tiffany Street 867 Southern Boulevard, at the N.W. corner of Tiffany Street, showing construction work on an addition to the Hunts Point Branch of the New York Public Library. May 12, 1936. Works Progress Administration. Federal Art Project photo.
Hunts Point Branch, NYPL
877 Southern Boulevard. New York Public Library Hunts Point Branch. Children inside library
Hunts Point Branch, NYPL
Bronx: Southern Boulevard - Tiffany Street B67 Souuthern Boulevard, at the N.W. corner of Tiffany Street, showing W.P.A. men erecting an addition to the Hunts Point Branch of the New York Public Library. August 13, 1936. Works Progress Administration. Federal Art Project photo.
Hunts Point Branch, NYPL
Hunts Point Branch, NYPL
877 Southern Boulevard. N.Y. Public Library
Hunts Point Branch, NYPL
877 Southern Boulevard. New York Public Library Hunts Point Branch. Children outside library
Hunts Point Branch, NYPL
877 Southern Boulevard. New York Public Library Hunts Point Branch. Children inside library
Hunts Point Branch, NYPL
877 Southern Boulevard. New York Public Library Hunts Point Branch. Interior, children inside
Hunts Point Branch, NYPL
Hunts Point Branch, NYPL
Bronx - 877 Southern Boulevard - Tiffany Street
Hunts Point Branch, NYPL
877 Southern Boulevard. New York Public Library Hunts Point Branch. Children inside library
Hunts Point Branch, NYPL
Bronx: Southern Boulevard - Tiffany Street 867 Southern Boulevard, at the N.W. corner of Tiffany Street (foreground), showing the lower portion of the Hunts Point Branch of the New York Public Library. The W.P.A. is constructing an addition to the rear of the library. May 12, 1936. Works Progress Adrinistration. Federal Art Project photo.
Hunts Point Branch, NYPL
Bronx: Southern Boulevard - Tiffany Street 867 Southern Boulevard, at the N.W. corner of Tiffany Street. W.P.A. workmen are erecting an addition to the Hunts Point branch of the New York Public Library. August 13, 1936. Works Progress Administmation. Federal Art Project photo.
Hunts Point Branch, NYPL
Bronx: Southern Boulevard - Tiffany Street 867 Southern Boulevard, at the N.W. corner of Tiffany Street, showing W.P.A. workmen working on the foundation for an addition to the Hunts Point Branch of the New York Public Library. The view is southward across the rear of the library from a 5-story apartment house. May 12, 1936. Works Progress Administration. Federal Art Project photo.
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