8. Stanton Street Synagogue
Stanton Street Synagogue is a historic synagogue located at 180 Stanton Street. It was constructed in 1913 by a landsmanshaft from Brzeżany in southeast Galicia, Ukraine. The tenement-style synagogue is one of the last in the city, and it remains an Orthodox house of worship today. Jewish immigrants from Galicia organized Congregation Bnai Jacob Anshei Brzezan as a mutual aid society in 1894. The synagogue incorporated two existing structures dating to the 1840s: a three-story wood-frame front house and a brick back house.
In 1952, following a drop in membership, the synagogue merged with Bnai Joseph Dugel Macheneh Ephraim, which was founded by Polish-Jewish immigrants from Rymanów and Błażowa. Rabbi Joseph Singer worked as an advocate for the poor and elderly of the neighborhood, and he served in the role from 1964 until 2002. The run-down synagogue was sold to the National Theatre Workshop of the Handicapped in 2000, and Singer left the neighborhood. Less than 100 people remained as members around the turn of the century, but the synagogue experienced a revival over the past two decades. The synagogue was built in the Neoclassical style and prominently features four Stars of David, including in the oculus above the main entrance. In the center of the synagogue is a wooden bimah and a wooden Ark, and the sanctuary has a tin ceiling. Wall paintings around the main sanctuary depict the Zodiac signs for the twelve Hebrew months.