July 2026
The summer of 2026 will be another busy year for Marisa Scheinfeld, a Brooklyn, NY-born photographer and author who is heading up a project to honour and memorialize what was once known as America’s Jewish Vacationland, colloquially known as the Borscht Belt.
An enthusiastic crowd gathered in a parkette, locally referred to as Maurice Gerry’s parkette, in the Hamlet of Ferndale, New York, on 28 June, for the dedication of a historical marker commemorating the Borscht Belt. This was the first of five new historical marker dedications scheduled to take place in 2026, in this iconic area of eastern New York State.
The Borscht Belt, the area 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.
The Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project is the brainchild of Scheinfeld, who spend her youth vacationing and working 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.
After introductory remarks from Scheinfeld, the marker project’s visual coordinator, Isaac Jeffreys, and Town of Liberty Supervisor Frank DeMayo, the 16th marker was formally unveiled.
Speakers at the ceremony were longtime resident and local legend Maurice Gerry, namesake of the parkette and Catskill hotel descendants Eileen Pollack (Pollack’s Hotel), Marc Stier (Stier’s Hotel) and Mitchell Ivers (Upper Ferndale Country Club).
Four more dedications will take place throughout the summer and into the fall, with more to come in 2027.
Prior to the dedication ceremony, participants were invited to tour the newly-restored Shelburne Playhouse, located a short distance from the dedication site. Built in 1922, it was formerly the social hall for the Shelburne Hotel and one of the defunct hotel’s few remnants.
| Monuments of the Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project |
| 1. Bethel: Gazebo Park, 3562 State Route 55, Kauneonga Lake, NY 2. Ellenville: Ellenville Public Library, 40 Center Street, Ellenville, NY 3. Fallsburg: Old Falls Overlook, Intersection of Route 42 & Old Falls Road, Fallsburg 4. Greenfield Park: Ellenville Fire Dept, 7025 Route 52 West, Greenfield Park, NY 5. Hurleyville: Hurleyville Performing Arts Centre, 219 Main Street, Hurleyville, NY 6. Kiamesha Lake: The Alder Hotel, 750 Resorts World Drive, Monticello, NY 7. Livingston Manor: Intersection of Main & Pearl Streets, Livingston Manor, NY 8. Loch Sheldrake: Intersection of Route 52 & Loch Sheldrake Road, Loch Sheldrake, NY 9. Monticello: Ethelbert B. Crawford Library, 479 Broadway, Monticello, NY 10. Mountain Dale: Across from Post Office at 12 Post Hill Road, Mountain Dale, NY 11. Parksville: Intersection of Short Ave. & Parksville Road, Parksville, NY 12. South Fallsburg: Griff Court & R.R. Plaza Extension, South Fallsburg, NY 13. Swan Lake: Swan Lake Park, 1658 Briscoe Road, Swan Lake, NY 14. Woodbourne: 437 Main Street, Woodbourne, NY 15. Woodridge: 22 Green Avenue, Woodridge, NY 16. Ferndale: 9 Ferndale Road, Ferndale, NY Download a PDF guide of our marker trail here. Take our trail via Google Maps! The following other historical markers will be dedicated throughout 2026: 17. Roscoe: 7 Railroad Avenue, Roscoe, NY (11 July) 18. Rock Hill & Glen Wild: 345 Rock Hill Drive, Rock Hill, NY (8 August) 19. Western Sullivan County: 6604 NY-52, Lake Huntington, NY (4 September) 20. Wurtsboro, Spring Glen & Highview: 136 Summitville Road, Wurtsboro, NY (18 October) |
Other Borscht Belt Historical Markers dedicated in the past year:
Read about previous year’s dedications:
Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project dedicates more markers in 2024 – Canadian Military History
