The oldest surviving synagogue in Queens was selected for a Sacred SiteGrant by The New York Landmarks Conservancy.
Congregation Tifereth Israel in Corona was one of 22 grants awarded to historic religious properties throughout New York state.
The synagogue was founded by Ashkenazi Jews who had moved to Queens from the Lower East Side in 1911. The building was modeled after the narrow tenement temples with eclectic decoration of the tripartite front facade that incorporates typical elements of synagogue architecture in the late 19th and early 20th century: Gothic arched windows, a stained glass window with a Star of David motif and a central roof pediment on corbel brackets.
Congregation Tifereth Israel will receive a $10,000 grant to help fund perimeter waterproofing.
The Sacred Sites Program provides congregations with matching grants for planning and implementing exterior restoration projects, technical assistance, and workshops. Since 1986, the program has pledged nearly 1,500 grants totaling more than $11.1 million to 805 religious institutions statewide.
“We are very pleased to be able to assist another diverse group of religious institutions,” The New York Landmarks Conservancy President Peg Breen said. “Aside from architectural merit, each one is an important community anchor.”
As Corona began to change in the 1960s and the Ashkenazi began to move away Bukharan Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union replaced them in the congregation. Currently, Congregation Tifereth Israel reaches about 500 people a year through life-cycle events and other programming.
The building, located at 109-20 54th Ave., received city landmark status in 2008.
