August 2024
An enthusiastic crowd gathered in a parkette in the Hamlet of Woodridge, New York, on 25 August, for the dedication of a historical marker commemorating the Borscht Belt. This was the ninth in a series of historical marker dedications, and the last one for 2024, that have taken place in this historic part of eastern New York State that was once called “the Jewish Alps.”
The Borscht Belt, is the colloquial name of the Catskills area of eastern New York State, that was once populated with resorts and bungalow colonies that served as a summer refuge for Jewish clients from New York City, in an era when Jewish people still faced discrimination elsewhere. Many prominent comedians of the day got their start performing at the Borscht Belt hotels and bungalow colonies, like Lenny Bruce, Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Red Buttons, Sid Caesar, Totie Fields, George Burns, Rodney Dangerfield, Henny Youngman and Joan Rivers, just to name a few.
By the late 1960s, cheap airfare, a decline in passenger rail service, more integration and a desire of the younger crowd to travel elsewhere are some of the factors that led to a decline in the popularity for the over 500 hotel resorts and thousands of bungalow colonies that once populated the area.
During its peak years, from the 1920s to the 1960s, there were around 50 hotels and 39 bungalow colonies in the Woodridge area, including the Vegetarian Hotel, who as the name suggest, catered to a very specific clientele.
The Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project is headed up by Marisa Scheinfeld, a Brooklyn, NY-born photographer and author, who was raised in the Catskills during the last two decades of the 20th Century, when it was all fading away. The markers are part of a self-guided audio driving tour, using historical markers in selected locations throughout Sullivan County, along with plans for an assortment of related exhibitions, film screenings, comedic and musical events. Each marker commemorates the hotels and bungalow colonies that once populated that specific area.
Speakers at the dedication ceremony included Scheinfeld, Isaac Jeffreys, a New York City-based photographer and the project’s visual coordinator, Woodridge Mayor Joan Collins, Alan Young, Gay Liberation Activist & Woodridge native, Jay Kasofsky , whose family founded The Avon Lodge & Grine Felder Bungalow Colony, Bruce Konviser, grandson of the Vegetarian Hotel founders, Julia Arenson, whose family owned and operated Sunny Oaks Hotel for four generations and Phil Brown, founder of The Catskills Institute, who delivered his remarks by audio recording, as he was unable to attend the ceremony.
After the dedication ceremony, Steve Max led the crowd in a round of Simon Says, as he once did at hotels like the Vegetarian Hotel, while DJ Josh Druckman of Outlier Inn spun some old school vinyl records.
The Jewish Historical Society, an organization run by Jerry Klinger that funds historic markers across America, is fully funding the markers. The respective towns are paying for the installation and a team of volunteers will be tasked with maintaining the once they are installed.
Scheinfeld’s partners in this project include Louis Inghilterra, an avid Borscht Belt historian, recent graduate of Colorado State University and co-founder of the Marker Project, Kelli Huggins, a historian, museum professional, and amateur artist, Jerry Klinger, the president and founder of the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation, Scott Eckers, an author, educator and entertainer, and the aforementioned Jeffreys.
So far, the only one that has been mounted on the actual site of a former hotel is the marker dedicated to the Concord Hotel and Breezy Corners Bungalow Colony in Kiamesha Lake. The current property owner, Resorts World Catskills, a new hotel that occupies a portion of the former Concord property, enthusiastically gave permission for the marker to be mounted on-site back in June of this year.
Four other markers have been dedicated this year in South Fallsburg, Kiamesha Lake, Hurleyville and Bethel.
Historical markers that were dedicated in 2023 can be found in the courtyard beside the at the Ethelbert B. Crawford Public Library in Monticello, in a parkette across from the Post Office in the Hamlet of Mountain Dale, beside the Old Falls Overlook in Fallsburg, and in a small parkette across the road from the site of the former Stevensville Hotel and the Commodore Hotel.
A further four are planned for dedication in 2025 in Loch Sheldrake, Parksville, Livingston Manor and Ellenville, with six additional markers planned for 2026. Stay tuned.
For more information about the Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project, upcoming marker dedications and special events, go to www.borschtbelthistoricalmarkerproject.org or www.maytheborschtbewithyou.com.
To hear an interview with Marisa Scheinfeld on the Borscht Belt Tattler podcast, visit: May the Borscht Be With you: Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project (buzzsprout.com)
