Beth Ahavath Sholom, a.k.a. The Temple (site of)

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Former synagogue that hosted punk rock concerts in its basement

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Dina Vinokur

This is a “ghost site” as of about two years ago. There used to be a big reform synagogue on the corner of Bay Parkway and Benson Avenue. It was a beautiful building with stained glass windows and the works. What made this place special for me was that it had later in the day services for non-early birds like me. And on Sunday nights they rented the basement space and it was transformed into a showcase for local punk bands; appropriately dubbed “The Temple”. It was a pretty popular hangout for my High School and alot of people got their performing start there. Aside from that the place tripled as a Korean Church. But ultimately the punk concerts were shut down due to noise complaints and soon after that the place was torn down and the congregation moved to Borough Park. Now it’s yet another luxury condo building.

This place mattered because people of all ages logged many many hours in its hallowed halls in both prayer and debauchery. This place matters because it was unique and now it’s bland. (Sept., 2007)

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