Synagogue of Congregation Ohab Zedek

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Address: Rockaway Beach Boulevard and Beach 135th Street
Neighborhood: Belle Harbor
Architect:  Civkin, Victor
Year: 1956
Current Status: Extant
Award:  Honorable Mention
Typology:  Religious Building

This synagogue is located in the quiet residential setting of Belle Harbour. The building is faced with quarry stone and brick and includes some interesting temple details like the row of front doors shaped like an open book. The complex includes the main sanctuary, a balcony, a school, a chapel, a roof terrace, and a ballroom. Badly damaged during Hurricane Sandy with major flooding of its lower floors, the building only partially reopened in 2014 and has still not fully recovered. Victor Civkin, the synagogue’s architect was not particularly well-known especially in New York. However he also designed a temple using similar materials in Fairfield, Connecticut, as well as numerous residential structures in southwest Connecticut.

Sources: 

“Architect is Speaker for Shimshon Youth” The Bridgeport Post. 6 Jan. 1967. Web.

Eisenberg, Malka. “Belle Harbor returns to stay and rebuild: ‘We’re back’” The Jewish Star. 17 Jan. 2013. Web.

Lockhart, Brian. “Modernist home may land historic designation” Connecticut Post. 18 Jan. 2013. Web.