The Catskills has been the summer retreat for thousands of New Yorkers for over one hundred years. This lecture features many of the grand hotels such as Grossinger’s, the Concord and the Nevele which served as the training ground for some of the greatest entertainers in the world, including Sid Caesar, Eddie Fisher, Jack Benny, Robert Merrill and Neil Sedaka. The program includes photos of the Delaware and Hudson Canal which was built by the same engineers who designed New York’s Erie Canal. They commissioned John A. Roebling to design several suspension bridges in 1849 for this project. Roebling later went on to design his most noted project, the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883. The program has a section devoted to the Ontario and Western Railroad which brought thousands of New York City residents to their summer resorts in the Catskills. The railroad has been replaced with major highways, but several of the old railroad stations that survived have been restored and recycled into other uses. There is a section in the program devoted to the Jewish farmers who moved to the Catskills around the turn of the 20th century from New York City. Their farmhouses were turned into boarding houses during the summers. Some of these boarding houses eventually evolved into grand hotels. The farmers and merchants from nearby towns built country synagogues. Many of these wood-frame 100-year-old structures are still standing. In recent years, some have been restored and have been listed on the New York State and National Lists of Historic Places.

Contact Oscar Israelowitz call (718) 619-3900 or email oscari477@aol.com