7. There’s a Hidden Heart in the Ceiling

Eldridge Street Synagogue-Museum at Eldridge Street-Tour-Lower East Side-Chinatown-NYC-Heart in CeilingHeart on left, spade on the right. Photos by Michelle Young.

The arches supporting the domes above the balconies of the Eldridge Street Synagogue all have the same pattern, forming a spade inside the ornamentation. But one, is different. If you’re facing the front of the sanctuary, head to the balcony on the right side and look for the second dome in as you walk towards the front. Instead of a spade, one arch has a heart, “perhaps put there by a romantic artisan,” the Museum writes.