264-272 West 89th Street
264-272 West 89th Street
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Date:Â 1927-28
NB Number:Â NB 282-1927
Type: Â Community House
Architect: Â Herts & Abramson
Developer/Owner/Builder:Â Congregation B’nail Jeshurun
NYC Landmarks Designation:Â Historic District
Landmark Designation Report:Â Riverside Drive- West End Historic District
National Register Designation:Â N/A
Primary Style: Â Semitic
Primary Facade: Â Â Roman Brick
Stories:Â 6
Structure: Style: “Semitic” Located on West 89th Street approximately 100 feet from West End Avenue and extending seventy-eight feet along the street, the Community Center is a six-story building faced in brown iron-spot Roman brick above a gray seam faced granite water table and a rose-colored cast-stone base. The facade is five bays wide. In each end bay at the ground story is a door in a cast stone enframement with shallow relief decoration in the reveals and a cornice decorated with Islamic-inspired muqaznas (also known as stalactite work); the door is flanked by metal light fixtures. The three center bays at the base each have a single window with leaded multi pane double-hung sash. At the second story, above a cast stone stringcourse, each bay has paired arched windows with multi pane double-hung sash. Detail in the third through the fifth stories is focused on cast-stone enframements in the three center bays resembling meshrebeeyah (Islamic-inspired balcony windows, usually lattice-covered) with low-relief decoration; end bays at these stories are unembellished. The sixth story is treated like the second story. The cornice is a single projecting slab supported by a block corbel at each end. Western Elevation: This brick elevation is visible from 89th Street; there is no applied architectural detail, but there are random windows cut through the masonry wall. Eastern Elevation: This elevation is similar to the western elevation.
Historic District: Riverside Drive- West End HD
Alterations: Applied metal lettering at the first story reads “Henry Lindenbaum Jewish Community Center.” A banner hangs from hardware installed at the center bay of the fourth story.
History:Â Designed by Herts & Abramson and built in 1927-28 for the Congregation B’nai Jeshurun, the Lindenbaum Community Center (formerly the Israel Goldstein Community Center) is located directly behind the Congregation B’nai Jeshurun Synagogue (1917-18) at 257 West 88th Street. Designed in the “Semitic” style, it complements the design of the synagogue, for which Henry B. Herts was the associate architect, by similarly focusing the architectural interest at the center of a mostly blank facade and by using stylized . elements.which reflect traditional Middle Eastern and Moorish architecture. The building was designed as an adjunct to the synagogue to provide a meeting space and to serve the physical, mental, and spiritual needs of the congregation. The building replaced five rowhouses. It is no longer owned by the Congregation B’nai Jeshurun, but it is still a Jewish community center. B’nai Jeshurun now rents space in the building. For further information on the “Semitic” style see the entry for Congregation B’nai Jeshurun Synagogue (257 West 88th Street). Selected References: Andrew Scott Dolkart, “Congregation B’nai Jeshurun Synagogue and Community House,” National Register of Historic Places Department of the Interior, Heritage, Conservation, 1989. New York City Department of Taxes Photograph Collection, Municipal Archives and Record Collection, G 2032. Record & Guide Dec. 31, 1927, 9.