Millinery Center Synagogue

Millinery Center Synagogue
Millinery Center Synagogue
Location within New York City
Basic information
Location	1025 6th Avenue (38th St) New York City, NY 10018 U.S.
Geographic coordinates	40°45′09″N 73°59′10″W / 40.752615°N 73.986044°W / 40.752615; -73.986044Coordinates: 40°45′09″N 73°59′10″W / 40.752615°N 73.986044°W / 40.752615; -73.986044
Affiliation	Orthodox Judaism
State	New York
Status	Active
Architectural description
Architect(s)	Hyman Isaac "H.I." Feldman
Architectural style	Modernist Art Deco
Completed	1948 September 12, 1948 (dedication)
Construction cost	$150,000
Specifications
Capacity	125
Length	60 feet
Width	19 feet

Millinery Center Synagogue is a Jewish Orthodox synagogue located in the Garment District of New York City.

The synagogue was supported by the many millinery organizations that were based in the neighborhood. A group of these ready-to-wear industry business men had been meeting in various spaces, mostly in a loft on West 36th Street. Their rabbi during this very loosely organized time was Rabbi Moshe Ralbag. In January 1933, the congregation was more formally organized and the name of the synagogue, the Millinery Center Synagogue, was agreed upon, although the meeting place was temporary, at 1011 Sixth Avenue, on the second floor. Moe Brillstein (the father of film producer Bernie Brillstein) became president and started a building fund. At that point the congregation came together and decided to build a synagogue.

Due to the density of millinery businesses in the neighborhood, at its peak, services for daily minyan were typically so heavily attended that the prayer sessions were held in rotating shifts.

The synagogue was built by H.I. Feldman, a prolific,Yale-educated architect who built thousands of Art Deco and Modernist-style buildings in New York City, notably 1025 Fifth Avenue (between 83rd and 84th Streets) on the Upper East Side and the LaGuardia Houses on the Lower East Side, as well as many buildings that line the Grand Concourse in the Bronx. Feldman and his company, The Feldman Company, also built the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies building (130 East 59th Street) and the United Jewish Appeal building (220 West 58th Street).

There were wartime restrictions on building, so building was postponed for a time until 1947. The building's construction was completed in September 1948, and the synagogue was dedicated on September 12, 1948.