172 Norfolk, Between Stanton and East Houston streets
Architect: Alexander Saeltzer
Date Constructed: 1849

Old Ansche Chesed Synagogue was built by German Jewish immigrants and is a reminder of the vast Jewish community that occupied the Lower East Side at the end of the 19th century. It is one of the few synagogues in the world built along Gothic lines and is quite beautiful, although its congregation abandoned it a century ago in favor of a new, larger synagogue uptown. This dignified old building is New York’s oldest surviving synagogue.