50 Year Landmarking Wait May Soon End for 150-Year-Old Synagogue
 The nearly 150-year-old Tifereth Israel Town and Village synagogue building at 334 East 14th Street in the East Village is finally getting consideration for landmark status. Please join us at the Landmarks Preservation Commission hearing on Tuesday, March 25th at 9:30 a.m.
Built as a German Baptist Church in 1866 and converted to a Ukrainian Autocephalic Orthodox Church in 1926, 334 East 14th Street (1st/2nd Avenues) has served as the Tifereth Israel Town and Village Synagogue since 1962. Designed in a distinctive German Romanesque style displaying the roots of the original congregants, over time onion domes were added and crosses removed to reflect the building's new occupants. In 1966, just a year after the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) was created, the building was 'calendared' and considered for landmark designation. For reasons no one seems to recall, the Commission never voted on the proposed designation, and the building has remained in "landmarks limbo" for forty-seven years.
Last year, after news broke that the congregation was considering, among other options, selling or developing the historic building GVSHP and other community groups asked the LPC to finally consider the site for landmark designation. A public hearing was scheduled by the LPC late last year, but it was postponed until this month. To read more about the landmarking status of this building, click here.
HOW TO HELP:
- Write to the Landmarks Preservation Commission NOW, urging them to move ahead with consideration of landmark designation of this historic building -- use sample letter HERE.
- Attend the Landmarks Preservation Commission hearing on Tuesday, March 25th at 9:30 a.m.in the LPC Hearing Room, One Centre Street (at Chambers Street), 9th floor (arrive early to go through security, bring photo ID). If you plan to attend, let us know, so we can let you know if the scheduled time changes, and provide other details.
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