Two historic buildings get landmark designation

Two Queens buildings have been granted landmark designation this week.
Founded nearly a century ago for Jewish immigrants mainly from Poland, a Corona synagogue has begun a new chapter in its history as the first temple in Queens to be landmarked.
In a unanimous vote on Tuesday, February 12, the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) green-lighted the historic designation of Congregation Tifereth Israel, located on 54th Avenue between 108th and 111th Streets.
The synagogue, which features a combination of Gothic and Moorish architecture styles, is believed to be the oldest, continuously-used for Jewish worship in Queens - the first building permit was filed in 1911, and the synagogue was completed in 1914.
Over the years, the building - which the LPC said was originally named Congregation Independent Chevra Tyfers Israel Anshei Corona, but informally known as the Home Street Synagogue - offered services for worshippers, including cosmetics maven Est/e Lauder, whose parents owned a hardware store two blocks away. A half century later, pop icon Madonna lived in a nearby yeshiva.
Of late, the congregation is mostly comprised of Bukharian Jews from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Russia and other former nations in the Soviet Union. However, although the synagogue remains active, their building has fallen into a state of dire disrepair, said Esther Khaimov, the wife of Congregation Tifereth Israel’s rabbi.
Ann-Isabel Friedman, Director of the Sacred Sites Program for the New York Landmarks Conservancy, estimated recently that the cost to repair the outside of the building alone would be $1.4 million.
Although the Congregation has been awarded several government grants, collecting the money would have been difficult as a religious, privately-run organization, Khaimov said, explaining that she hoped the new designation would facilitate funding to repair the historic structure. Only time will tell, she said.
“We are very happy. Unfortunately we couldn’t make it to this wonderful event,” Khaimov said of the vote.
In Jamaica, the Beaux Arts Building, the former site of Jamaica Savings Bank, located at 161- 02 Jamaica Avenue, was unanimously designated a landmark by the LPC for the third time.
Previously granted the status in 1974 and 1990, the 110-year-old edifice has made history as the subject of the longest-running landmark dispute.
“I am extremely pleased by the efforts of the Landmarks Preservation Commission in working with the building owner, Conway Stores, and the local community to expedite this process,” said City Councilmember Leroy Comrie. “It is my hope that this landmarking will be a small but significant part of the economic and cultural renaissance of the Jamaica business community.”
The City Council must ratify the building’s designation.