[Yonah Shimmel Knish Bakery, 137 East Houston Street.]
1977
[Yonah Shimmel Knish Bakery, 137 East Houston Street.]
Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery, 137 East Houston Street, ca. 1972.
A fixture of the Jewish Lower East Side, Yonah Schimmel has been serving knishes here on Houston Street since 1890. Originally a pushcart business, Schimmel, a Romanian immigrant, opened a brick and mortar shop on the north side of Houston in the 1890s as his business flourished. In 1910 the knish shop moved into its current location at no. 137. After more than 120 years, the business is still family-owned and run. Today the shop is owned by Alex Wolfman, Yonah's great nephew.
Much like a Nathan's Famous hot dog, someone once said that, "No New York politician in the last 50 years has been elected to office without having at least one photograph showing him on the Lower East Side with a knish in his face."