Three Queens Synagogues Are Listed on the National and State Registers of Historic Places

NEW YORK, NY—The New York Landmarks Conservancy and the Preservation League of New York State announced on Tuesday, December 15, 2009, the listing of three Queens synagogues on the National and State Registers of Historic Places: Rego Park Jewish Center, Astoria Center of Israel and the Free Synagogue of Flushing.

Individually, the three synagogues are highly intact monuments, important repositories of religious decorative arts, and dynamic cultural institutions, each housing a variety of community arts and education programs. National Register listing makes these properties eligible for the New York Landmarks Conservancy’s Sacred Sites grant program as well as state historic preservation matching grants. In late October, these historic Queens synagogues, nominated by The New York Landmarks Conservancy in August, were listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the nation's official list of properties worthy of preservation.

Funding for this project was provided by the Preserve New York grant program of the Preservation League of New York State and the New York State Council on the Arts. With the assistance of architectural historian Tony Robins, the rich architectural and social history of the Rego Park Jewish Center, Astoria Center of Israel and the Free Synagogue of Flushing is thoroughly documented in the National Register nominations. Collectively, the three synagogues represent important chapters in the history and growth of Queens, and their listing deservedly swells the ranks of Queens synagogues on the National Register of Historic Places from one to four.

"These National Register Nominations are the first step in what we hope will be a long relationship with the Conservancy, as we work with the congregations to maintain these beautiful structures,” said Peg Breen, President of The New York Landmarks Conservancy.

“These three synagogues embody decades of history, architectural character and cultural heritage and traditions,” stated Queens Borough President Helen Marshall. “They are distinctive living memorials that now have a new chapter written into their history. The listing of these synagogues on the National and State Registers of Historic Places is proof of their enduring value through generations and helps ensure their future on our borough's landscape.”

“Congregations all across the state are struggling with the cost of maintaining their older buildings, especially when faced with significant demographic changes and dwindling levels of observance," said Jay DiLorenzo, President of the Preservation League of New York State. "The League was delighted to support the preparation of National Register nominations for these architecturally significant synagogues through our Preserve New York grant program, supported by the New York State Council on the Arts."

Astoria Center of Israel is one of the few surviving early 20th-century synagogues in Queens, designed by architect Louis Allen Abramson, an important architect in the development of the synagogue-center movement, and built in 1925-26 when the Jewish population of Queens was still relatively small. The synagogue sanctuary features unusual Art Deco wall and ceiling murals by noted French muralist Louis Pierre Rigal.

Free Synagogue of Flushing is a 1927 Neo-Classical Revival synagogue designed by architect Maurice Courland, established as part of the reform-minded “Free Synagogue” movement. The building features a handsome carved limestone temple front, copper pediment and dome, and vivid stained glass domed skylight and windows.

Rego Park Jewish Center is a sophisticated, Bauhaus-influenced modernist synagogue designed by Frank Grad & Sons, built in 1948 to serve the fast-growing Jewish population of the area. The building features a large-entrance mosaic and leaded glass windows all designed by A. Raymond Katz, a major figure in 20th-century American Jewish art.