Jewish Center of Brighton Beach

The Jewish Center of Brighton Beach, named as the Jewish Center of Coney Island prior to 1947, is a historic former Orthodox Jewish synagogue and community center, located in the Brighton Beach neighborhood of Brooklyn, Kings County, New York, in the United States.

History
The formation of the Brooklyn Jewish Center combined the three leading Brownsville Jewish organizations – the Hebrew Educational society, the Stone Avenue Talmud Torah, and the Congregation Ohav Sholom – into one entity. The first Jewish community center was formed in 1917 in Manhattan, beginning a community centre movement. The Jewish Center of Brooklyn followed shortly thereafter, with a center that housed a gymnasium, kindergarten, library, classrooms, dining room and synagogue.

The congregation was founded in 1914 on West 5th Street in Coney Island (originally named Temple Adath Israel), and when building the community centre in 1929–1930, renamed itself as the Jewish Center of Coney Island. In 1947, the name was changed to the Jewish Center of Brighton Beach.

The former synagogue is a four-story-with-basement trapezoidal-shaped building in the Renaissance Revival style. The front façade is clad in golden-colored stone and features a grand staircase and second story loggia. The building is capped by a hipped roof of red tile.

The former synagogue building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.

Soluri Architecture were engaged to redesign the 24000 sqft building in a more modern and practical style.

The synagogue building was featured in Lord of War, a 2005 crime drama film starring Nicolas Cage.