Ohav Shalom Synagague

 

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The original shul building of the Ohev Shalom synagague was built in 1916. The facade was made of clay orange brick with subtle limestone accents and stained glass windows. Men and women each had their own entrance to the building, which was gender segregated. 

A small school building was added to the right side of the sanctuary in 1928.

The inside of the sanctuary was much more decorated than the outside. Beautiful hand painted zodiac symbols formed a band across the turquoise field of the ceiling. A grand chandelier hung down from the center. Beautiful stained glass filled the windows on each level.

During services the girls and women of the congregation sat on the balcony while boys and men occupied the main floor. Curtains were hung to divide the genders as is customary in orthodox Judaism. 

Over the next few decades the congregation slowly dwindled until there weren't enough men to sustain a minyan. In 2003 the synagague closed for good. The building was sold to B'nai Yakkov Shlomo Mordecai, another orthodox group.

As far as I can tell the B'nai Yakkov Shlomo Mordecai congregation never ended up using the building. Instead they let it sit vacant for more than 20 years as water and animals forced their way in, laying waste to the building. 

Eventually the buildings were sold to John and Maryan LLC who promptly filed for demolition permits. Initially the community pushed back, but after the developers agreed to salvage the stained glass windows the permits were eventually approved. After a brief flash of popularity in the Urban Exploration community the buildings were demolished by 2026. 

The demoliton of Ohev Shalom had an impact on the city's historic preservation perspective. Council members discussed being more insistent that developers save the facades of historic buildings they plan to demolish. Its a step in the right direction for sure. Hopefully the conversation shifts again to full on preservation before the city loses all its historic charm. 

Thanks for reading.

St Joseph's Catholic Church

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The city of Bayonne has long had a large Roman Catholic population. In the late 1800's the St Joseph's parish formed out of mostly Slovak catholics. However it wasn't until 1909 that the church in this post was constructed.

The grey stone structure stood at the corner of Avenue E and 25th street, replacing an earlier carpenter gothic building. The parish used the building until 2011, when the archdiocese of Newark chose to consolidate some of its parishes. St Joseph's folded into the new St John Paul II parish, alongside Our Lady of Mt Carmel. The new group operated out of the Mt. Carmel church.

It wasn't long before the building was occupied again, this time by a Syriac Catholic parish. They only used the church for four years, when it was once again announced that the building was to be closed as a place of worship.

2018 brought news that the site was going to be completely demolished and a new housing development was going to rise on the grounds. I grabbed my camera and headed out to the church the next day. I slipped inside and spent the next 15 minutes checking out the place by myself. The interior  of the building was architecturally unremarkable, likely the result of a fire or some other sort of cosmetic damage over the years. I decided to return the next day with my girlfriend to properly document the building.

Late in 2019 heavy machinery started eating away at the beautiful stone edifice from the back, until the 110 year old building was completely reduced to rubble. Before long there will be two ugly new residential buildings on the land, and afterwards the St Joseph's parish will be forgotten.