At Turn Of Century, Middle Village Was The Answer To Jewish Prayers







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What is Middle Village today, was initially settled by English farmers. 
The first church in the area was the Methodist Episcopal founded in 1768. 
It reportedly became the second oldest Methodist Episcopal 
church in America. 
It (Middle Village) was a farming area and the farms were 
described as being in the Township of Newtown in Queens County, New York.

In 1814, construction began on a toll road from the village of 
Williamsburg in Kings County to the Village of Jamaica 
in Queens County. The 'Williamsburg & Jamaica Turnpike' 
road was completed in September 1816 .
(In 1860, the Roman Catholic Church established in Middle Village the 
Parish of St. Margaret, the patron saint of farmers. 
In June 1873, in Queens County the name of the Williamsburg & Jamaica 
Turnpike was changed to Metropolitan Avenue and became a public road.)

Because the farms in the area were about midway between Williamsburg 
and Jamaica, gradually over a period of time, the area became known a 
Middle Village. The earliest use of the name, was a deed dated 1829.
 
In the mid-1800s, a number of German immigrants came to Middle Village 
and acquired farms. 
In 1852, 17 acres of the 32-acre PULLIS Farm were sub-divided by the 
heirs into 116 lots. 
 
In the mid to late 1800s, a large number of Jewish immigrants entered 
the United States from Central and Eastern Europe. Most settled in 
New York City. They were poor and had fled from oppressive conditions.
 
From 1880 to 1890, about 72,000 Jewish immigrants settled in the 
Lower East Side of Manhattan, residing in 4 & 5 story walk-up tenement 
houses. Most of these houses had no running water, and the only toilet 
was either in the cellar or in an outhouse in the backyard.
 
Living conditions were wretched with social and sanitary problems. 
Jacob RIIS (<a href="http://www.cis.yale.edu/amstud/inforev/riis/title.html">How the Other Half Lives</a>)
wrote about the terrible slums and over a period of time the Council of 
New York City passed a series of laws trying to correct the problems. 

In 1901, a group of wealthy German Jews living in New York City founded an 
organization to move Jews who resided in the slums on the Lower East Side 
to other parts of the United States. In a 10-year period about 60,000 were 
resettled.

Transportation between Long Island and Manhattan permitted residents 
of Long Island to hold jobs in Manhattan.
Brooklyn Bridge- May 1883
Williamsburg Bridge- December 1903
Manhattan Bridge- 1909. 

About 1906, Market Realty Company, headed by Albert MARKERT, acquired 
parcels of land in Middle Village in the section south of Metropolitan 
Avenue and just west of Dry Harbor Road (80th Street). His company 
had offices in Brooklyn & Manhattan. 
 In November 1906, Nathan SHAPIRO of 52 Vernon Avenue, Brooklyn 
received a building permit from Queens County to construct a 
two-story frame building on the west side of Main Avenue (75th Street), 
325 feet north of Market Street (69th Road). 
Although the permit did not so state, the synagogue was for the 
Orthodox Jewish Congregation Sons of Israel. 
(They subsequently built a school next to the synagogue.)

 In 1908, Market Realty, having acquired additional parcels of land in 
1907 & 1908, filed sub-division map #848 with Queens County for 
'Cooper Heights' consisting of 99 building lots, bounded by Proctor Street 
(73rd Place) on the west, by mid-block between what is now 78th St & 79th St 
on the east, by what is 68th Avenue on the north, and by 100 feet south of 
what is 69th Road on the south. The name is from Cooper Avenue which was 
adjacent to the southern bounds of the sub-division. The location of 
Cooper Heights was described as in the 2nd Ward of the Borough of Queens. 
(No mention was made of Middle Village.)

 According to one history of Queens, Market Realty welcomed buyers of 
the Semitic race.

 -In 1921, another Orthodox Jewish Congregation 'Ahavath Achim' was 
founded in Middle Village. When they had sufficient funds, they 
purchased two lots on the north side of Wayne Street (now 67th Drive). 
They initially built the basement of the synagogue and held services there. 

 -In May 1925, Queens County installed a new street name and lot numbering 
system, and as a result, many of the street names were replaced by numbers. 
The synagogue Sons of Israel was located at 69-06 75th Street and the school 
at 69-10 75th Street. 
The synagogue of Ahavath Achim was located at 75-27 67th Drive. 
Later in 1925, the Congregation of Ahavath Achim hired a contractor to 
complete the upper floors of the synagogue. 
A dedication of the completed synagogue was held.May 17, 1926.

 -In 1935, the Conservative Jewish Congregation of Forest Hills West was 
founded. They subsequently purchased land on the east side of Dry Harbor 
Road at 63-25. 
 -In 1938, they built the basement of their synagogue and held services there. 
 -In 1945, the upper portion of the synagogue was completed. 
 -In 1958, the school was added.
 -In the 1970's, the membership of the Orthodox Sons of Israel Congregation 
was declining due to deaths and members moving away from the area. 
 -In 1974, they merged with the Orthodox Congregation Ahavath Achim. 
The merged congregation was known as the Orthodox Congregation Sons of 
Israel Ahavath Achim. The synagogue at 69-06 75th Street was a frame 
building and was no longer needed. The property was sold, and the synagogue 
was torn down. A new building was erected on the site.

 -In 1976, the Orthodox Congregation Son of Israel Ahavath Achim deeded 
over to the Rabbinical Seminary of America the school building at 
69-10 75th Street. The facility was converted into the Middle Village 
Older Adult Center, and a rabbi was placed in charged as the director. 
The center is for all the senior citizens of Middle Village. Funding 
is provided by the New York City Department for the Aging with a 
luncheon on Monday through Friday each week.

 -By the late 1980s, the membership of the Orthodox Congregation Sons 
of Israel Ahavath Achim was also declining, and it was becoming more 
difficult to meet expenses. By 1995, the membership dues were so little 
that they could no longer afford to hire a rabbi for their services. 
It was decided that the synagogue building should be sold if a suitable 
buyer could be found.

 -In December 1997, the synagogue building was sold to the Romanian 
Orthodox Church Holy Archangels Michael & Gabriel, of which Peter Popov 
was president of the Parish Council and Jon Petrovic was secretary. 
They extensively renovated the interior and exterior. Their members 
primarily lived in Ridgewood, Glendale and Middle Village. They held 
their services on Sundays and appropriate holidays.


 In an appropriate and emotional ending to the Orthodox Jewish 
community in Middle Village, on Thursday, August 23, 2001, the 
Congregation Sons of Israel Ahavath Achim held its final meeting at 
the Middle Village Older Adult Center at 69-10 75th Street. 
Emanual ZAKAR, president of the Orthodox Congregation Sons of 
Israel Ahavath Achim, welcomed everyone and then read the history 
of the congregation that he had written. 
 The event was a testimonial to the founders and members of the 
Congregation Sons of Israel Ahavath Achim, who were an intricate 
part of Middle Village for almost a century.

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