{"nrhp_refnum":"98000239","name":"First Romanian-American Congregation Synagogue","other_names":["Allen Street Memorial Methodist Church"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"89-93 Rivington St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Manhattan","state":"NY","lat":40.72005725500003,"lon":-73.98883761299999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1998-03-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","European"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick Romanesque Revival synagogue at 89-93 Rivington Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, originally built in the 1860s and remodeled several times, with its present facade dating from 1889-90.","why_significant":"It is argued to be the major surviving building representing Roumanian Jewish immigration to New York City in the early twentieth century, and the center of that community's life. It is also a representative example of late nineteenth and early twentieth century religious architecture in Manhattan, with a distinctive Romanesque facade and richly decorated interior. Its history reflects shifting worship on the Lower East Side, moving between synagogue and Protestant mission church use.","narrative":"Located on Rivington Street on Manhattan's Lower East Side, this synagogue began as a building of the 1860s and has been remodeled several times. It first served a Jewish congregation, then became a Methodist mission church, Allen Street Memorial, for which J.C. Cady & Co. designed a new Romanesque Revival facade of reddish-orange brick with round arches and molded brickwork, opened in 1890. In 1902 the First Roumanian-American Congregation bought the building and converted it back to a synagogue, adding an ornate wooden ark, stained glass and a skylight in 1902-03. Further changes followed in 1948-50, including a rebuilt entrance portico. The congregation has owned it since 1902. The building is significant as the main surviving landmark of Roumanian Jewish immigration to New York, and as a representative example of religious architecture of its period. Although altered and in need of restoration, it retains a high level of integrity to its 1902-03 remodeling.","period_of_significance":"1889-1950","architect_builder":"Cady, J.C. & Co.; Reid, Charles E.; Schuman & Lichtenstein","architectural_style":"Late Victorian: Romanesque Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still used as a synagogue by a small congregation; the form says it is in need of restoration, and the attic level is abandoned.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:51.460596-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/98000239.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98000239/a6bd516403-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98000239/a6bd516403-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Tom Fletcher (http://www.nyc-architecture.com)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Roumanian-American_arch.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Tom Fletcher (http://www.nyc-architecture.com)</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Roumanian-American_arch.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"00001015","name":"Lower East Side Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/new-york/lower-east-side-historic-district-00001015/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75319499","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Roumanian-American_Congregation","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3123498"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/manhattan/first-romanian-american-congregation-synagogue-98000239/"}