Building of the Day: 554 Prospect Place

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Former Temple Isaac, now Faith Chapel Baptist Church
Address: 554 Prospect Place
Cross Streets: Classon and Franklin Avenues
Neighborhood: Crow Hill (Crown Heights North)
Year Built: 1922
Architectural Style: Moorish Inspired with a hint of Art Deco
Architect: Martyn N. Weinstein
Other Buildings by Architect: Ocean Parkway Jewish Center
Landmarked: No

The story: The western part of Crown Heights North, now called Crow Hill by many, and ridiculous acronyms by others, was home to a very large Jewish population in the 1920’s. So much so that the large hospital complex, Jewish Hospital, still dominates as the tallest and largest buildings in the area. The surrounding row houses, flats buildings and apartment buildings were home to thousands of observant Jews who needed to have a shul nearby. Today, almost all of these buildings are gone, with only a few exceptions.

In an article in the Jewish Daily Forward, published in 2010, the author, Paul Berger, writes about 73 year old Rabbi Elkanah Schwartz, who walked from his home in Boro Park all the way to his congregation at one of the few remaining Orthodox temples in Crow Hill, Kol Israel, on Franklin Avenue, across the street from the popular watering hole, Franklin Park. The rabbi made this 6 hour round trip every Sabbath to take part in services at Kol Israel. He remembered when “there was a synagogue or a little room, known as a shtiebel, on almost every street. Most have disappeared or have been converted for other uses. The nearby Orthodox Temple Isaac is today a Baptist church. Opposite the former Temple Isaac, the once-imposing Jewish Hospital of Brooklyn is now an apartment block.”

The former Temple Isaac was built for $64,000, designed by Martyn N. Weinstein, an architect who had offices at 16 Court Street, in downtown Brooklyn. Weinstein designed temples and synagogues, as well as apartment buildings, with commissions taking place between 1920 and 1940. He was the architect of the beautiful Ocean Parkway Jewish Center, on Ditmas Avenue and Avenue F, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. He also designed an Art Deco apartment building on 8th Avenue in Park Slope, opposite Montgomery Place.

This temple has great soaring Moorish inspired arches, also on the side, with geometric patterned stained glass and very interesting diamond patterned brickwork. The temple was sold to the Faith Baptist Temple in 1972. The Jewish Hospital, whose patients, visitors, and staff probably frequented the temple, went bankrupt about the same time, probably prompting the sale. This building is part of the area’s rich heritage, as a home, over the years, to many different people and traditions. GMAP