The 9 Best Jewish Heritage Sites in NYC (2026)

Updated October 2026 · 9 picks

The best Jewish heritage sites in NYC in 2026 are the Museum at Eldridge Street and the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side, the Jewish Museum on Fifth Avenue and the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Battery Park City. Add Shearith Israel, America's oldest Jewish congregation, Central Synagogue, Temple Emanu-El and Park East Synagogue for New York's great sanctuaries.

The list at a glance

Museum at Eldridge Street Lower East Side / Chinatown, Manhattan
Tenement Museum Lower East Side, Manhattan
The Jewish Museum Museum Mile, Upper East Side, Manhattan
Museum of Jewish Heritage Battery Park City, Manhattan
Congregation Shearith Israel Central Park West, Upper West Side, Manhattan
Central Synagogue Midtown East (Lexington & 55th), Manhattan
Temple Emanu-El Fifth Avenue & 65th Street, Manhattan
Park East Synagogue Upper East Side, Manhattan
Kehila Kedosha Janina Lower East Side, Manhattan

1. Museum at Eldridge Street — Lower East Side / Chinatown, Manhattan

A breathtaking 1887 synagogue, rescued from ruin and restored as a museum.

$ Budget

The Eldridge Street Synagogue was built in 1887 by Eastern European immigrants, one of the first great synagogues they built in America. After decades of decline it was painstakingly restored, and its soaring sanctuary — Moorish arches, stencilled walls, brass chandeliers and a modern rose window by artist Kiki Smith and architect Deborah Gans — is one of the most moving interiors in the city.

It operates as a museum with guided tours, and a congregation still holds services in the building.

Good to know: Take the guided tour — the guides tell the story of the immigrants who built it and of its restoration.

12 Eldridge St, New York, NY

Google Maps Website

2. Tenement Museum — Lower East Side, Manhattan

Real apartments of real immigrant families, recreated inside an Orchard Street tenement.

$$ Mid-range

The Tenement Museum tells the story of the immigrants who lived in its buildings on Orchard Street, including Jewish families from Germany and Eastern Europe, by recreating their actual apartments as they lived in them. It is one of the most human museums in New York.

Visits are by guided tour only, with different tours focusing on different families and eras, and they sell out.

Good to know: Book ahead and choose a tour that features a Jewish family's apartment if that is your interest.

103 Orchard St, New York, NY

Google Maps Website

3. The Jewish Museum — Museum Mile, Upper East Side, Manhattan

Art and Jewish culture in a Fifth Avenue mansion — free every Saturday.

$$ Mid-range

The Jewish Museum, in the French Gothic-style Warburg mansion on Fifth Avenue at 92nd Street, combines a large permanent collection of Judaica and art spanning thousands of years with ambitious exhibitions of modern and contemporary art.

Admission is free on Saturdays and on the third Thursday evening of each month, and children 18 and under are always free. Lox at the Jewish Museum, an OU-certified kosher dairy café, is downstairs.

Good to know: Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The café does not require a museum ticket.

1109 Fifth Ave, New York, NY

Google Maps Website

4. Museum of Jewish Heritage — Battery Park City, Manhattan

A living memorial to the Holocaust, looking out at the Statue of Liberty.

$$ Mid-range

The Museum of Jewish Heritage — A Living Memorial to the Holocaust stands at the southern tip of Manhattan, its six-sided building recalling the six million murdered. Its exhibitions tell the story of Jewish life before, during and after the Holocaust, and its Garden of Stones by Andy Goldsworthy grows trees out of boulders.

Its windows look out over the harbor to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, which gives the visit a powerful closing note.

Good to know: Combine it with the Statue of Liberty ferry, which leaves from Battery Park a few minutes' walk away. Lox Cafe inside is OU-certified kosher.

36 Battery Pl, New York, NY

Google Maps Website

5. Congregation Shearith Israel — Central Park West, Upper West Side, Manhattan

The Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue — America's oldest Jewish congregation, founded in 1654.

$ Budget

Shearith Israel was founded in 1654 by 23 Jews who arrived in New Amsterdam from Recife, Brazil, making it the oldest Jewish congregation in the United States. It still follows the Spanish and Portuguese rite, and its neoclassical synagogue on Central Park West at 70th Street dates from 1897.

The congregation also maintains historic cemeteries in Lower Manhattan, including the 17th-century cemetery at Chatham Square, among the oldest Jewish burial grounds in North America.

Good to know: The congregation runs a monthly public synagogue tour — check the website for dates. It is an active Orthodox congregation.

2 W 70th St, New York, NY

Google Maps Website

6. Central Synagogue — Midtown East (Lexington & 55th), Manhattan

A Moorish Revival landmark from 1872 — the oldest synagogue building in continuous use in NYC.

$ Budget

Central Synagogue's twin onion-domed towers on Lexington Avenue have been a Midtown landmark since 1872, making it the oldest synagogue building in continuous use in New York City. The richly painted sanctuary was meticulously restored after a fire in 1998.

It is a large Reform congregation, and its services are widely livestreamed.

Good to know: Check the website for public tour times.

652 Lexington Ave, New York, NY

Google Maps Website

7. Temple Emanu-El — Fifth Avenue & 65th Street, Manhattan

One of the largest synagogues in the world, with a museum of its own.

$ Budget

Temple Emanu-El, on Fifth Avenue at 65th Street, is one of the largest synagogues in the world. Its 1929 Romanesque-style sanctuary, with a great arched ceiling and mosaics, seats thousands. The congregation, founded in 1845, was the first Reform congregation in New York.

The building houses the Herbert & Eileen Bernard Museum of Judaica, and it is opposite Central Park.

Good to know: Combine it with a walk in Central Park across the street, or the Frick Collection nearby.

1 E 65th St, New York, NY

Google Maps Website

8. Park East Synagogue — Upper East Side, Manhattan

A striking 1890 Moorish Revival Orthodox synagogue on East 67th Street.

$ Budget

Park East Synagogue, Congregation Zichron Ephraim, was built in 1890 and is a designated New York City landmark with a colorful Moorish Revival facade. It is a leading Modern Orthodox congregation, long led by Rabbi Arthur Schneier, and has hosted visits by world leaders and popes.

For observant visitors staying on the Upper East Side, it is also a natural place to daven.

Good to know: Visitors attending services should arrive early for security and dress modestly.

163 E 67th St, New York, NY

Google Maps Website

9. Kehila Kedosha Janina — Lower East Side, Manhattan

The only Romaniote synagogue in the Western Hemisphere — Greek Jewry's hidden treasure.

$ Budget

Kehila Kedosha Janina, on Broome Street, is the only synagogue in the Western Hemisphere of the Romaniote Jews — the ancient Greek-speaking Jewish community of Greece. Built in 1927, it doubles as a museum of Greek Jewish history, including the community's destruction in the Holocaust.

It is a small, intimate place, and a revelation for visitors who know only the Ashkenazi story of the Lower East Side.

Good to know: Check its limited opening hours on the website before you go — usually Sundays.

280 Broome St, New York, NY

Google Maps Website

Frequently asked questions

Can I visit synagogues in New York as a tourist?

Many historic synagogues welcome visitors at set times or by guided tour, and some run regular public tours. Services are generally open to respectful visitors, but check each congregation's website, expect security screening, and dress modestly. Tours are not run on Shabbat or holidays at Orthodox synagogues.

Where was the historic Jewish neighborhood in New York?

The Lower East Side, where hundreds of thousands of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe settled between the 1880s and the 1920s. Its tenements, synagogues, pickle shops and delis still carry that history, though the neighborhood today is very mixed.

What is the oldest synagogue in New York?

The oldest Jewish congregation in North America is Congregation Shearith Israel, the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, founded in 1654 by Jews arriving in New Amsterdam from Recife, Brazil. Its current synagogue on Central Park West dates from 1897. Central Synagogue on Lexington Avenue, built in 1872, is the oldest synagogue building in continuous use in the city.

Is there kosher food near these sites?

Yes. Lox at the Jewish Museum and Lox Cafe at the Museum of Jewish Heritage are both OU-certified kosher dairy cafés inside the museums, and our kosher restaurant guides cover the rest of the city.

1. Museum at Eldridge Street — Lower East Side / Chinatown, Manhattan

2. Tenement Museum — Lower East Side, Manhattan

3. The Jewish Museum — Museum Mile, Upper East Side, Manhattan

4. Museum of Jewish Heritage — Battery Park City, Manhattan

5. Congregation Shearith Israel — Central Park West, Upper West Side, Manhattan

6. Central Synagogue — Midtown East (Lexington & 55th), Manhattan

7. Temple Emanu-El — Fifth Avenue & 65th Street, Manhattan

8. Park East Synagogue — Upper East Side, Manhattan

9. Kehila Kedosha Janina — Lower East Side, Manhattan

Frequently asked questions

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