The Forsyth Street Synagogue of the Congregation Poel Zedek Anshe Illiya, 1930.

Built in 1890 by architect Josiah Cleveland Cody, this Romanesque Revival structure was first built as the temporary home to a missionary group attempting to proselytize to the local Jewish community. Unsurprisingly, that mission failed and the building was sold to Chevrah Poel Zedek Anschei Illia, a Jewish community of Lithuanian immigrants. In 1909 the new owners converted the ground level facade on Delancy Street side into retail spaces. The synagogue remained here until the 1960s despite long dwindling membership. Today the building is home to Templo Adventista del Septimo Dia. In early 2016 the church sought a developer to demolish the 19th-century building and erect a 12-story structure. As of 2018, nothing has come of that intention.

Former synagogue at Forsyth and Delancey Streets, now a Seventh-Day Adventist Church, ca. 1978. Built in the 1890s as the Forsyth Street Church, the congregation of immigrants from present-day Belarus and Lithuania took over the church in 1900. The building is notable for the row of ground-level retail storefronts on Delancey street, around the corner from its main entrance. In 1971, the building was sold to the Seventh-Day Adventist Church of Union Square.

Upon reaching New York, many Jewish immigrants settled on the Lower East Side, establishing new congregations and social aid societies specific to local communities of the old country. Small synagogues were so common that a stretch of East Broadway was known as “shtiebel row,” after the Yiddish term for a small space for prayer (in contrast to larger synagogues). Over time, Manhattan’s Jewish population shifted to other parts of the city, causing Lower East Side congregations to dwindle. Many synagogues were sold, shuttered, or abandoned, and some have since been demolished. Still, the neighborhood bears many traces of its once-vibrant Jewish life.