.jpg) The Angel Orensanz Center, housed within a formersynagogue | |
  Location inLower Manhattan | |
Former names | Ansche Chesed Conregation |
|---|---|
| Established | 1986; 39 years ago (1986) |
| Location | 172–176 Norfolk Street,Lower East Side,Manhattan,New York City,New York 10002 |
| Coordinates | 40°43′16″N73°59′09″W / 40.72111°N 73.98583°W /40.72111; -73.98583 |
| Type | Art gallery andperformance space |
| Founder | Angel Orensanz |
| Owner | Angel Orensanz Foundation |
| Website | orensanz |
| Architect | Alexander Saeltzer |
| Architectural style(s) | Gothic Revival |
| Designated | June 14, 1983 |
| Reference no. | 1440 |
TheAngel Orensanz Center is an art and performance space at 172 Norfolk Street, betweenStanton Street and EastHouston Street, on theLower East Side ofManhattan inNew York City. It was originally built as asynagogue, running through a succession of congregations and continues to be used as one occasionally asThe Shul of New York.[1]
It was erected in 1849, making it theoldest surviving synagogue building in New York City,[2] and the fourth-oldest surviving synagogue building in the United States.[3] It was the largest synagogue in the United States at the time of its construction and is one of the few built in theGothic Revival style.[4][5][6]
From 1849 to 1974, at various stages, the building has been used as a synagogue.[7][8][9] and then, followingvandalism, acquired by thegovernment of New York City (1981), after which it was sold to a succession of owners: Hungarian Development, Inc. (1983), Seashells, Inc. (1984), and finally Angel Lopez Orensanz (1986).[10] Spanish sculptor and painterAngel Orensanz purchased the property in 1986, about after 12 years after its last synagogue-owners had abandoned its use. He restored it and converted it into an art gallery and performance space known as theAngel Orensanz Foundation Center for the Arts. TheNew York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the building as ahistoric landmark the following year. It subsequently became home toThe Shul of New York, a liberal non-denominational synagogue.[7]: 15
The building's interior resembles that of theCathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris.[11] Thesanctuary was designed to resemble theSistine Chapel.[12]
The building is 70 feet (21 m) wide by 90 feet (27 m) deep. It has a main space of 7,000 square feet (650 m2) (and an assembly room of 4,000 square feet (370 m2)) and 50-foot (15 m) high cathedral blue ceilings.[1][13] It haspointed arch talllancet windows (originally surrounded bytrefoil tracery and moldings) and doorways (surrounded by parts of moldings showingengaged columns and foliate capitals).[1][11] Its larger center door is crowned by triangular molding that is almost as high as the second floor, which contains aMagen David with thinpinnacles on either side.[1] It also has interior wooden vaults and several balconies (one of which houses Angel Orensanz's studio).[1][11] It has a tripartite frontfacade of red stone brick, covered withstucco, framed at its top by a pointedgable.[1][11] Originally, the building was three stories high and topped by concave pyramidal roofs withfinials atop them; today, it is two stories high and topped bybuttressed, clearly differentiated side square towers on either side of the center section.[1] The towers were an unusual feature at the time they were built, containing articulated stairwells to the galleries.[1] Its original ceiling was deep blue, with gold stars.[12]
The building was designated a New York City Historic Landmark in 1987.[1][14]
The synagogue was built byCongregation Ansche Chesed (People of Kindness), at time known as Anshe Slonim,[1] the third Jewish congregation in New York City,[1][5] Congregation Ansche Chesed purchased the three lots upon which the synagogue was built, at 172 Norfolk Street (betweenStanton Street and East Houston Street), on theLower East Side of New York City in April 1849 for $10,500 (today $397,000).[1] The lots had originally been part ofPeter Stuyvesant's estate.[1]
The synagogue building was designed byEisenach (Germany)-born architectAlexander Saeltzer, who was engaged in February 1849. Saeltzer also later designed the originalAstor Library (nowThe Public Theater) in 1851 and theAcademy of Music onAstor Place in 1854.[1][5][15][16] The synagogue'sGothic Revival style was inspired by theCologne Cathedral in Cologne, Germany, andFriedrichswerdersche Kirche in Berlin.[5][17] According to a 1987 report by theNew York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, while Gothic architecture is closely associated with Christianity, it had also become popular with synagogues as Jewish congregations had taken over old church buildings and become accustomed to the style and viewed it as just as appropriate as any other architectural style.[1] The building opened in 1849 as Anshe Chesed Synagogue and was also known as the Norfolk Street Congregation.[18]
After Ansche Chesed left in 1874,[7][1] the synagogue was used by several Eastern European Orthodox Jewish congregations, which reconfigured the space to the more traditional orientation and removed the organ.[5] These included Congregation Shaari Rachmim (1873–1886),[1][5][7] The First HungarianCongregation Ohab Zedek (1886–1921).[1][5] and Sheveth Achim Anshe Slonim (1921–1974), the latter of whom called it Anshe Slonim Synagogue.[7][8][19] By 1974, the Slonim community had dispersed,[1] and the synagogue building was abandoned and was vandalized.[1][5][20]
Jewish Spanish sculptor and painter Angel Orensanz purchased the property in 1986. He restored it and converted it into an art gallery and performance space, the Angel Orensanz Foundation for the Arts, which he operated along with his brother, Al.[5][21][22] The building was designated anhistoric landmark by New York City in 1987.[1][5][23][14][24]
The Shul of New York, a liberal Reform synagogue organized in 1997 that was founded by Rabbi Emeritus Burt Siegel who originally held the Shul's Shabbat services at the synagogue and they still holdRosh Hashanah andYom Kippur services there.[12][23][25] Rabbi Susan Falk has led The Shul of New York since 2021. The Shul's services are accompanied by theShul Band, led by Adam Feder. It is the oldest standing synagogue in New York City.[1][26]
In 1994, the controversialAndres Serrano-directed music video forGodflesh's song "Crush My Soul" was filmed in the center.[27][28]Sarah Jessica Parker andMatthew Broderick were married there in 1997.[7][29]Mandy Patinkin'sMamaloshen was also performed there, and Nobel Prize winnerElie Wiesel, poetMaya Angelou, playwrightArthur Miller, actressTyne Daly, composerPhilip Glass, and singersWhitney Houston andMariah Carey have performed there.[13][7][22] In 2003,Avril Lavigne recorded hermusic video for "Losing Grip" there withLiz Friedlander as thedirector.Taking Back Sunday's live acoustic albumLive from Orensanz was recorded here in 2010. It was the venue for the 2011 live recording ofMTV Unplugged byFlorence + The Machine. In 2015, Venture Opera staged three performances ofMozart'soperaDon Giovanni at the Orensanz Center.[30] The same year, the center was used in the filming of an episode ofJessica Jones.[31]
Photographer Daniel Hastings used the interior of the synagogue as the backdrop for thecover art for theWu-Tang Clan's 1993 albumEnter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers).[32]
In 2014, the building was closed for fear that the balcony would collapse, and it did not reopen for nearly a year.[33][34]
