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Borscht Belt

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The Borscht Belt, or Yiddish Alps, is a region which was noted for its summer resorts that catered to Jewish vacationers, especially residents of New York City.[1] The resorts, now mostly defunct, were located in the southern foothills of the Catskill Mountains in parts of Sullivan and Ulster counties in the U.S. state of New York, bordering the northern edges of the New York metropolitan area.

Borscht Belt
Cultural region of United States
Areas of upstate New York that constituted the Borscht Belt
Areas of upstate New York that constituted the Borscht Belt
Country United States
State New York

"In its heyday, as many as 500 resorts catered to guests of various incomes."[2] These resorts, as well as the Borscht Belt bungalow colonies, were a popular vacation spot for New York City Jews from the 1920s through the 1960s.[3] By the late 1950s, many began closing, with most gone by the 1970s, but some major resorts continued to operate, a few into the 1990s.

Name

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The name comes from borscht, a soup of Ukrainian origin (made with beets as the main ingredient, giving it a deep reddish-purple color)[4] that is popular in many Central and Eastern European countries and brought by Ashkenazi Jewish and Slavic immigrants to the United States. The alliterative name was coined by Abel Green, then editor of Variety, and is a play on existing colloquial names for other American regions (such as the Bible Belt and Rust Belt).[5] An alternate name, the Yiddish Alps,[6] was used by Larry King and is satirical: a classic example of borscht belt humor.

History

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Rail network in the Catskills with summer resorts, ca. 1901

After the expansion of the railway system including the tracks Ontario and Western as well as the Ulster and Delaware Railroad,[2] the area of the Catskill Mountains became a tourist destination because of the beauty of the landscape, which impressed the painters of American Romanticism, and because of the rising popularity of fly fishing in its trout-rich rivers. As New York City streets would bake in the summer and air-conditioning was not yet available, people flocked to the Catskills.

In the early 1900s, some hotels' and resorts' advertisements refused to accept Jews and indicated "No Hebrews or Consumptives" in their ads.[7] This discrimination led to a need for alternative lodging that would readily accept Jewish families as guests. Visits to the area by Jewish families were already underway "as early as the 1890s ... Tannersville ... was 'a great resort of our Israelite breathren [sic]' ... from the 1920s on [there were] hundreds of hotels."[8] The larger hotels provided "Friday night and holiday services as well as kosher cooking", thus supporting religious families to take a vacation in accordance to their customs.[9]

Rise

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Borscht Belt hotels, bungalow colonies, summer camps, and kuchaleyns (kuch-alein, literally: "Cook it yourself",[10] a Yiddish name for self-catered boarding houses)[11] flourished. The bungalows usually included "a kitchen/living room/dinette, one bedroom, and a screened porch" with entertainment at the casino, the communal center, being simple: bingo or a movie.[12] The kuchaleyns were often visited by lower middle-class and working-class Jewish New Yorkers. Because of the many Jewish guests, this area was nicknamed the Yiddish Alps or Solomon County (a malapropism of Sullivan County) by many people who visited there.[13]

 
Concord Hotel, Kiamesha Lake, dining room, 1978

A sufficient choice of Jewish cuisine was an important feature of the hotels in the Borscht Belt, and "too much was not enough" developed as a notion. Jonathan Sarna wrote: "To understand the emphasis on food, one has to understand hunger. Immigrants had memories of hunger, and in the Catskills, the food seemed limitless."[14][15]: 303  The singles scene was also important; many hotels hired young male college students[16] to attract single girls of a similar age. One book on the era contended that "the Catskills became one great marriage broker."[17]

Borscht Belt resorts stood in towns such as Liberty, Fallsburg, Mamakating, Thompson, Bethel and Rockland in Sullivan County as well as Wawarsing and Rochester in Ulster County. Such resorts included Avon Lodge, Brickman's, Brown's, Butler Lodge, The Concord, Grossinger's, Granit, the Heiden Hotel, Irvington, Kutsher's Hotel and Country Club, the Nevele, Friar Tuck Inn, the Laurels Hotel and Country Club, the Pines Resort, Raleigh Hotel, the Overlook, the Tamarack Lodge, Shady Nook Hotel and Country Club, Stevensville, Stier's Hotel, and the Windsor. Some of these hotels originated from farms that Jewish immigrants established in the early part of the 20th century.[18]

Two of the larger hotels in High View (just north of Bloomingburg) were Shawanga Lodge and the Overlook. One of the high points of Shawanga Lodge's existence came in 1959 when it was the site of a conference of scientists researching laser beams. The conference marked the start of serious research into lasers.[19] The hotel burned to the ground in 1973.[20] The Overlook, which offered rooms in the main building as well as bungalows, spiced up with entertainment, was operated by the Schrier family.[2]

Decline

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The Borscht Belt reached its peak in the 1950s and 60s with over 500 resorts, 50,000 bungalows, and 1,000 rooming houses[21] but the start of a decline was apparent by the late 1960s. "Railways began cutting service to the area, the popularity of air travel increased, and a younger generation of Jewish-Americans chose other leisure destinations."[22] Another source mentions a secondary factor: "anti-Semitism declined, so Jews could go other places."[23]

Access to the area improved with the opening of the George Washington Bridge and upgrade of old travel routes such as old New York State Route 17. On the other hand, passenger train access ended with the September 10, 1953 termination of passenger trains on the Ontario and Western Railway mainline from Roscoe at the northern edge of Sullivan County, through the Borscht Belt, to Weehawken, New Jersey.[24] A 1940 vacation travel guide published by the railroad listed hundreds of establishments that were situated at or near the railway's stations.[25] The following year, the New York Central ceased running passenger trains on its Catskill Mountain Branch.[26] The area suffered as a travel destination in the late 1950s and especially by the 1960s. Another source also confirms that "cheap air travel suddenly allowed a new generation to visit more exotic and warmer destinations."[27] More women remained in the workforce after marriage and could not take off for the entire summer to relocate to the Catskills.[28]

A Times of Israel article specifies that "the bungalow colonies were the first to go under, followed by the smaller hotels. The glitziest ones hung on the longest" with some continuing to operate in the 1980s and even in the 1990s.[14] Bungalow colonies fell into disrepair or many of the nicer ones have been converted into a housing co-op.[29] The Concord Resort Hotel, which outlasted most other resorts, went bankrupt in 1997 but survived until 1998 and was subsequently demolished for a possible casino site.[2] By the early 1960s, some 25 to 30 percent of Grossinger's Catskill Resort Hotel visitors were not Jewish,[2] nevertheless it closed in 1986.[30]

The Stevensville Hotel in Swan Lake was located on the shores of an artificial reservoir of the West Branch Mongaup River which fed a tannery since the 1840s.[31] It was commissioned in 1924 and managed by the Dinnerstein and Friehling families[32] until around 1990.[33] It reopened as Swan Lake Resort Hotel[34] in 1999 offering Asian cuisine plus Tennis & Golf facilities but only survived until 2007.[35] In 2015 the ultra-Orthodox[36] Congregation Iched Anash bought the property for $2.2 million[37] and began to operate the Satmar Boys Camp, a religious summer school (yeshiva gedolah).[38]

In 1987, New York City mayor Ed Koch proposed buying the Gibber Hotel in Kiamesha Lake to house the homeless. The idea was opposed by local officials[39] and the hotel instead became the religious school Yeshiva Viznitz.[40]

The Granit Hotel and Country Club, located in Kerhonkson, boasted many amenities, including a golf course. It closed in 2015 and was renovated and turned into the Hudson Valley Resort and Spa, which closed in 2018. The property was sold in May 2019 to Hudson Valley Holding Co. LLC. The company did not announce its plans for the hotel.[41]

21st century

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As of the 2010s, the region is a summer home for many Orthodox Jewish families.[42] Some of the hotels have been converted into rehab centers, meditation centers or Orthodox Jewish hotels and resorts.[43] The former Homowack Lodge in Phillipsport was converted into a summer camp for Hasidic girls. Officials of the state Department of Health ordered the property evacuated in July 2009, citing health and safety violations.[44] The Orthodox Jews who flock to the region each summer provide commerce that the area would not have otherwise.[42] The Flagler Hotel, Nemerson, Schenk's and Windsor Hotels in South Fallsburg, and the Stevensville Hotel in Swan Lake, were converted into Jewish religious summer camps.

In 1984, the Catskills division of Hatzalah was founded which covers the Borscht Belt and served the needs of a growing Orthodox clientele; as of 2020 a volunteer force of 450 rescue workers and paramedics is operating a fleet of 18 ambulances. Although financially independent from the other chapters, it cooperates in day-to-day business with Central Hatzalah of NYC as the 17. neighborhood and also with State Forces (police, forest rangers, emergency medical services, fire departments).[45][46][47][48]

Many Buddhist and Hindu retreat centers have been constructed on the land or in the restored buildings of former camps or resorts to serve adherents in New York City, the establishment of which has then drawn even more temples and centers to the area. This led to the coining of the nicknames "Buddha Belt," "Bhajan Belt" and "Buddhist Belt" to refer to the area's revival.[49][50][51]

Despite the region's decline as a cultural epicenter, a handful of traveling acts, such as the Doox of Yale, continue to regularly tour the Borscht Belt.[52]

  • Abandoned hotel buildings
  •  
    The Concord hotel, 2005
  •  
    Kutcher's hotel, 2015
  •  
    Grossinger's resort, 2015
  •  
    The Granit resort, 2015

Between 2013 and 2018, the decaying state of the abandoned resorts was captured by several ruins photographers:[53][54][27][55]

  • Grossinger's Catskill Resort Hotel; the Grossinger's complex partially was demolished in 2018 and a new owner planned to build a hotel, homes and other amenities. A remaining structure on the property was destroyed by fire in August 2022.[56][57]
  • Kutsher's Hotel and Country Club; a wellness club was built on the site and opened in June 2018.[58][59] The original Kutcher's nightclub is all that remains of the original hotel. The Kutcher's Hotel front electric sign was donated to the Sullivan County Historical Museum.
  • The Pines Hotel closed in 1998. The dilapidated main building and surrounding structures remained in a state of decay until it was destroyed in a fire in June 2023.[60] The Pines Hotel golf course has been converted into a Jewish religious summer camp.[61]
  • The former Gilbert's Hotel and Brickman Hotel are not part of the Siddha Yoga SYDA complex. A gift shop remains open at the sites, which are not in current active use.
  • Nevele Grand Hotel
  • The Vegetarian Hotel
  • White Lake Mansion House
  • Homowack Lodge
  • Lesser Lodge
  • Tamarack Lodge
  • Concord Resort Hotel (In February 2018, Resorts World Catskills opened on the site of the old hotel.)

Comedic legacy

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See also: Jewish humor
 
Roadside billboard with Jerry Lewis for Brown's Hotel, 1977.
 
Eddie Shaffer at the Granit Hotel in 1977.

The tradition of Borscht Belt entertainment started in the early 20th century with the Paradise Garden Theatre constructed in Hunter, New York by Yiddish theater star Boris Thomashefsky.[62] A cradle of American Jewish comedy since the 1920s, the Borscht Belt entertainment circuit has helped launch the careers of many famous comedians and acted as a launchpad for those just starting out.[63]

Comedians who got their start or regularly performed in Borscht Belt resorts include:[64][65]

Borscht Belt humor refers to the rapid-fire, often self-deprecating style common to many of these performers and writers.[66][67][68] Typical themes include:

  • Bad luck: "I told the doctor I broke my leg in two places. He told me to quit going to those places." (Henny Youngman)
  • Puns: "Sire, the peasants are revolting!" "You said it. They stink on ice." (Harvey Korman as Count de Money (Monet) + Mel Brooks as King Louis XVI, in History of the World Part I)
  • Physical complaints and ailments (often relating to bowels and cramping): "My doctor said I was in terrible shape. I told him, 'I want a second opinion.' He said, 'All right, you're ugly too!'" "I told my doctor, 'This morning when I got up and saw myself in the mirror, I looked awful! What's wrong with me?' He replied, 'I don't know, but your eyesight is perfect!'" (Dangerfield)
  • Aggravating relatives and nagging wives: "My wife and I were happy for twenty years. Then we met." (Dangerfield). "Take my wife—please!" (Henny Youngman); "My wife drowned in the pool because she was wearing so much jewelry." (Don Rickles); "My wife ain't too bright. One day our car got stolen. I said to her, 'Did you get a look at the guy?' She said, 'No, but I got the license number.'" (Dangerfield) "This morning the doorbell rang. I said 'Who is it?' She said 'It's the Boston Strangler.' I said 'It's for you dear!'" (Youngman)

Historical Marker Project

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The Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project was founded by Marisa Scheinfeld, a noted Borscht Belt historical photographer, author, and Borscht Belt documentarian, in 2022.[69] Scheinfeld had photographed the detritus of the former Borscht Belt hotels, bungalows, and historically important sites. She recognized the complete absence of any historical interpretive roadside markers documenting the sites of the former Borscht Belt.

The Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project initiated a unique program to place 20 vertical interpretive highway markers strategically sited to tell the story of the Borscht Belt and interpret the specific locations. The markers are enhanced with QR pegs for more in-depth explanations. A self-guided audio tour system is being developed.

 
Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project - Hurleyville

The markers are double-sided with representative images. All carry an interpretive text about the specific area on one side and the following common text about the Borscht Belt on the other side: "From the 1920s through the early 1970s, the Borscht Belt was the preeminent summer resort destination for hundreds of thousands of predominantly east coast American Jews. The exclusion of the Jewish community from existing establishments in the 1920s drove Jewish entrepreneurs to create over 500 resorts, 50,000 bungalows and 1,000 rooming houses in Sullivan County and parts of Ulster County. The Borscht Belt provided a sense of community for working and vacationing Jews. The era exerted a strong influence on American culture, particularly in the realm of entertainment, music, and sports. Some of the most well-known and influential people of the 20th century worked and vacationed in the area. Beginning around 1960, the Borscht Belt began a gradual demise due to many factors including the growth of suburbia, inexpensive airfare, and generational changes."[70]

As of 2024, the Program has completed and sited nine markers in Sullivan County - Monticello, Mountain Dale, Swan Lake, Fallsburg, Kiamisha Lake, South Fallsburg, Hurleyville, Bethel, and Woodridge. Loch Sheldrake, Parksville, Livingston Manor, and Ellenville are being prepared for 2025. Six additional markers are planned for 2026. The Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project is funded by the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation.[71]

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The Heiden Hotel in South Fallsburg was the film location of the 1987 movie Sweet Lorraine starring Maureen Stapleton. It was destroyed by fire in May 2008 while no longer hosting guests.[72]

In the same year, the movie Dirty Dancing replayed the heyday of the Borscht Belt in an upscale resort. The plot was inspired by the screenwriter's experience as a teenager in the summertime community at Grossinger's.[73]

In the graphic novel Maus: A Survivor's Tale (1991), Art Spiegelman's father Vladek spends the summer in a bungalow settlement in the Catskills and visits with his son at the nearby The Pines resort.[74]

In the second season of the series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017–23), both the Weissman and Maisel families spend a summer vacation at Steiner's Resort in the Catskills, depicted by Scott's Family Resort on Oquaga Lake in Deposit, NY.[75]

Also, Jason Reitman's historical dramedy film, Saturday Night (2024), depicts the chaos surrounding the 1975 telecast production hassles of Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle) and the ensemble cast during the series premiere of Saturday Night Live. In one scene, Brad Garrett plays an unidentified Borscht Belt stand-up comedian whose routine is bombing, but whose Borscht-esque humor is being transcribed by writer Alan Zweibel (portrayed by Josh Brener).[76]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Herrmann, Michele (2023-09-18). "The Borscht Belt Was a Haven for Generations of Jewish Americans". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2024-09-03. A new exhibition examines the more than 1,000 resorts and hotels that dotted New York's Catskills Mountains and provided relaxation, dancing and laughs
  2. ^ a b c d e Turkel, Stanley (2019-08-01). "Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 217, Hotel History: Catskill Mountain Resort Hotels". Hospitality Net. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
  3. ^ "Jewish scholars study history, cultural significance of the Borscht Belt" (Press release). Providence, Rhose Island: Brown University. Archived from the original on December 3, 2019.
  4. ^ Schultze, Sydney (2000). Culture and Customs of Russia. Series: Cultures and Customs of the World. Greenwood. pp. 65–66. ISBN 978-0313311017. The very poor might have few vegetables in the soup other than cabbage, making it shchi, or if it also had beets it was considered borscht. Borscht, actually Ukrainian in origin....
  5. ^ Karnow, Stanley (1990-01-18). "Goodbye to the Borscht Belt". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2024-04-20. But Abel Green, the editor of Variety, reputedly coined the term Borscht Belt -- and so it remains.
  6. ^ "The story of a song: "Bei Mir Bist Du Schön" now heads bestsellers". LIFE. Chicago, IL: Time Inc. 1938-01-31. Retrieved 2024-04-20. The Grossinger Hotel is on the fringe of the Catskills, known as the 'Yiddish Alps' or the 'borscht belt'.
  7. ^ Jankovitz, Michael (2014-11-26). "Spotlight on Nostalgia". Baltimore Jewish Times. Archived from the original on 2023-12-09. We shouldn't forget that the Jewish resorts in the Catskills 'were created in large part because other hotels in the region refused to admit Jews around the turn of the century through the 1930s' Rosenberg reminds audiences. 'The phrase, No Hebrews or Consumptives were included in advertisements for these restricted hotels,' he says.
  8. ^ Rothman, Lily (December 6, 2018). "The Real History Behind The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel's Trip to the Catskills 'Borscht Belt'". Time. New York City would bake in the summer. Air-conditioning hadn't been invented yet, so people wanted to get away from the asphalt and the cement and the concrete as much as they could, so they went up to the Catskills. This was starting to happen as early as the 1890s. I found a quote from Rand McNally's Guide to the Hudson River that says that Tannersville, one of these areas, was "a great resort of our Israelite breathren." [..] there were a lot of hotels and places in the Catskills that were restricted, that did not allow Jews to come, and so the Jews essentially said, We'll create our own hotels that will be welcoming to Jews. In the 20th century, particularly from the 1920s on, it really exploded. We're talking about hundreds of hotels.
  9. ^ Barken, Jeffrey F. (2014-11-26). "Kutsher's Documentary Captures Eclectic Legacy Of Borscht Belt Relic". Jewish Business News. Archived from the original on 2014-12-23. The culture of Kutsher's and other Jewish hotels in the Catskills evolved to accommodate religiously observant patrons, providing Friday night and holiday services as well as kosher cooking. For the first time in history, it was possible for strictly religious Jewish families to go on holiday.
  10. ^ Richman, Irwin (2003-11-10). "The Bungalow Colonies, "Kuchaleyns"". Newsletter of the Catskills Institute #14. Retrieved 2024-09-28. The bungalow colony of old, the 'kuchaleyn' (literally: 'Cook it yourself!') was the quintessential do-it-yourself Borscht Belt resort.
  11. ^ Polatschek, Jan (2008-06-29). "Berastagi: "Kukh-aleyns"". Travel with Jan – Since 2001. Retrieved 2024-09-28. 'Kukh-aleyns' literally means to cook alone or to cook for yourself. Here's the way it worked: in a large boarding house, several families had a bedroom room or two upstairs. On the main floor was a spacious, open area with ten or fifteen small kitchens, side by side. Each kitchen had a stove, sink, a refrigerator, some cabinets and a dinette set.
  12. ^ Shapiro, Marilyn (March 15, 2019). "Borscht Belt staff reminisce about the glory days of the Jewish Alps and their part in making it happen". The Jewish World. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  13. ^ Stone, Emily (2013). "From the Catskills to California: How the Borscht Belt Went From Lo Pro to High Ho and the West Was Won". Did Jew Know?: A Handy Primer on the Customs, Culture & Practice of the Chosen People. Chronicle Books. p. 160. ISBN 9781452129570.
  14. ^ a b Kirshner, Sheldon (September 25, 2018). "The Bygone Era of the Jewish Catskills Resorts". The Times of Israel. At these hotels, food was of primary importance. 'To understand the emphasis on food,' writes the scholar Johnathan Sarna, 'one has to understand hunger. Immigrants had memories of hunger, and in the Catskills, the food seemed limitless. There was a sense that too much was not enough.' When someone asked the wife of a New York newspaper columnist how to lose weight at Grossinger's, she replied, 'Go home.'
  15. ^ Silverman, Stephen M.; Silver, Raphael D. (2015). The Catskills: Its History and How It Changed America. Knopf Doubleday Publishing. ISBN 9780307272157.
  16. ^ Post, Marlene (2019-09-03). "Remembering Summers and Honeymoons in the Mountains". Hadassah Magazine.
  17. ^ Richman, Irwin (2003). Catskill Hotels. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing. p. 9. ISBN 9780738511610. Hotels hired college boys to attract single girls, and the Catskills became one great marriage broker.
  18. ^ Finkelstein, Norman H. (2014-01-01). Jewish Comedy Stars: Classic to Cutting Edge. Kar-Ben Publishing ™. ISBN 978-1-5124-9029-9.
  19. ^ Hecht, Jeff (2005). Beam: the race to make the laser. Oxford University Press. p. 101. ISBN 9780195142105.
  20. ^ "Mamakating" by Monika A. Roosa, Arcadia Publishing, 2007, p. 29
  21. ^ "The Borscht Belt". Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project. Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation. 2023. Retrieved 2024-04-24. From the 1920s through the early 1970s, the Borscht Belt was the preeminent summer resort destination for hundreds of thousands of predominantly east coast American Jews. The exclusion of the Jewish community from existing establishments in the 1920s drove Jewish entrepreneurs to create over 500 resorts, 50,000 bungalows and 1,000 rooming houses in Sullivan County and parts of Ulster County.
  22. ^ Clusiau, Christina (June 23, 2011). "The Disappearance of the Borscht Belt Hotels". Time.
  23. ^ Levine, David (July 23, 2014). "History of Borscht Belt Hotels and Bungalow Colonies in the Catskills". Hudson Valley Magazine.
  24. ^ Burns, Adam (July 3, 2022). "New York, Ontario & Western Railway (NYO&W): "Route Of The Mountaineer"". American Rails.
  25. ^ "1940 Vacation Guide - New York Ontario and Western Railway". The Catskills Institute. Northeastern University. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  26. ^ "1954 Chronology of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and its Historical Context" (PDF). PRR Chronology. Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  27. ^ a b Willett-Wei, Megan; Lakritz, Talia (July 5, 2018). "23 eerie photos that show the crumbling beauty of New York's abandoned 'Borscht Belt' resorts". Business Insider.
  28. ^ Danailova, Hiliary (September 3, 2019). "Young Jews Are Bringing the Catskills Back to Life". Hadassah Magazine.
  29. ^ Hayes, Constance L. (1987-08-24). "Catskill Bungalows: Rustic Goes Co-op". The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-01-10. Most of the nicer places, they found, have long waiting lists or have been converted to co-ops.
  30. ^ "Ruins of Grossinger's Resort". Atlas Obscura. August 24, 2013. [...] the hotel closed it's [sic] doors for the last time in 1986.
  31. ^ Stevensville Lake Resort -- Swan Lake -- Classic Catskills on YouTube
  32. ^ "Swan Lake Marker". Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project. 2008-03-28. Retrieved 2020-09-24. Swan Lake's most well-known resort, the Stevensville Lake Hotel, was constructed in 1924 and run for many years by the Dinnerstein and Friehling families.
  33. ^ Hust, Dan (2015-07-28). Written at Swan Lake. "Former Stevensville Hotel has a new owner". Sullivan County Democrat. Callicoon, NY. Retrieved 2024-04-20. A key part of the Borscht Belt up until it closed circa 1990, the Stevensville was bought by the Gallo family, who reopened the sprawling facility in 1999, adding, among other amenities, an Asian restaurant.
  34. ^ "Swan Lake Resort Hotel". Manta Media. 2009-03-22. Retrieved 2024-04-20. Briscoe Road Swan Lake, NY 12783, established in 1997, employs a staff of approximately 10
  35. ^ Forsyth, Bruce (August 2023). "The crumbling remains of America's Jewish Vacationland – The rise and fall of the Borscht Belt". Things From My Travels. Retrieved 2024-04-20.
  36. ^ "Former Catskill resort sold to ultra-Orthodox organization".
  37. ^ Israel, Steve (2015-07-29). "Former Catskill resort sold to ultra-Orthodox organization". Times Herald-Record. Middletown, New York. Retrieved 2024-04-20. Congregation Iched Anash of Brooklyn and Monticello, which has been running a summer camp there, bought one of the last of the old Catskill resorts for $2.2 million
  38. ^ Written at Queens. "Satmar Yeshiva Gets Permits to Open in Swan Lake as College Campus". BoroPark24. Borough Park, Brooklyn. 2020-06-12. Retrieved 2024-04-20. The large Satmar yeshiva gedola announced on Friday that they have received the necessary permits to open a summer camp in Swan Lake, with strict guidelines and under the guise of a college campus. [..] The Satmar yesiva in Queens, which is affiliated with the kehilla in Williamsburg, will operate as the UTS Swan Lake Campus and will require the bochurim to adhere to social distancing rules.
  39. ^ Purnick, Joyce (1987-04-04). "Catskills Hotel Suggested For Homeless". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
  40. ^ "Hotels and Bungalows". Providence, Rhode Island: The Catskills Institute, Brown University. Archived from the original on January 30, 2019. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
  41. ^ Doxsey, Patricia (May 7, 2019). "Hudson Valley Resort and Spa, closed since October 2018, bought by Brooklyn group". Daily Freeman.
  42. ^ a b Frankfurter, Yitzchok (Sep 15, 2013). "Ruins of the Borscht Belt: A Photo Essay and Conversation with Documentary Photographer Marisa Scheinfeld". Ami Magazine. No. 136. p. 172. Retrieved Feb 21, 2023.
  43. ^ Frankfurter, Yitzchok (Sep 15, 2013). "Ruins of the Borscht Belt: A Photo Essay and Conversation with Documentary Photographer Marisa Scheinfeld". Ami Magazine. No. 136. p. 176.
  44. ^ Whitman, Victor (2009-07-16). "New York wants sect to leave old resort". Times Herald Record. Middletown, New York. Archived from the original on June 28, 2020. Retrieved 2009-07-17.
  45. ^ N. N. (2020). "We're making a livesaving difference". 205 Brickman Road, South Fallsburg, NY 12779: Catskills Hatzalah. Retrieved 2024-04-21. over 4,000 calls per year, Fleet of 18 Ambulances, over 450 volunteers{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  46. ^ Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin, ed. (2019-08-15). "Hatzolah Responded to Thousands in Catskills This Summer". COLlive - independent Orthodox Jewish news outlet. Retrieved 2024-04-21. many of the attendees passed through the dispatching room at the Catskills Hatzolah Headquarters, where they were privileged to witness Hatzolah dispatching calls – many of them more than 100 miles away in Brooklyn. [..] Catskills Hatzolah operates 365 days a year in the Catskills.
  47. ^ "Catskills Hatzalah is pleased to announce the launch of its Drone Team". BoroPark24. Borough Park, Brooklyn. 2022-06-26. Retrieved 2024-04-21. Catskills Hatzalah has a close relationship with New York State Forest Rangers, New York State Police, and Sullivan and Ulster County Police, Fire, and EMS agencies.
  48. ^ "Help Catskills Hatzolah Help Klal Yisroel: An Exculusive Interview With Catskill Hatzolah Coordinators". The Jewish Vues. Brooklyn, NY. 2020-07-07. Retrieved 2024-04-21. The Catskills division is the seventeenth "neighborhood" of Central Hatzalah of New York City. [..] The vast majority of their activity is in July and August, when summer residents arrive.
  49. ^ Healy, Mark (2002-10-18). "HAVENS; The 'Bhajan Belt': Serenity in the Catskills". The New York Times. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  50. ^ Sullivan, John (2007-08-19). "region's 'buddha belt' keeps on expanding". Times Herald-Record. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  51. ^ Brown, Rande (Winter 2003). "Borscht Belt Buddhism". Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  52. ^ July 3; Comments, 2023 | Daniel Zhang |. "A Brief History of Borshch". Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Retrieved 2024-02-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  53. ^ Frankfurter, Yitzchok (Sep 15, 2013). "Ruins of the Borscht Belt: A Photo Essay and Conversation with Documentary Photographer Marisa Scheinfeld". Ami Magazine. No. 136. p. 167. Retrieved Feb 21, 2023.
  54. ^ Cabrey, Erin (5 October 2017). "10 Abandoned Resorts from The Borscht Belt, America's Jewish Vacationland in Catskills, New York". Untapped Cities. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  55. ^ Scheinfeld, Marisa; Kanfer, Stefan; Weissman Joselit, Jenna (15 November 2016). The Borscht Belt: Revisiting the Remains of America's Jewish Vacationland. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. ISBN 9781501700590.
  56. ^ Nanci, Matthew (February 11, 2019). "Possible revival of Grossinger's Resort moves ahead". Archived from the original on 2019-02-12.
  57. ^ "Building at the Catskills' famed Grossinger's resort, an inspiration for "Dirty Dancing," burns down in massive fire". CBS News. 19 August 2022.
  58. ^ Nanci, Matthew (June 21, 2018). "High-end wellness resort opens in Sullivan County". Times Herald-Record. Archived from the original on 2021-08-02.
  59. ^ "LeCHASE: YO1 Luxury Nature Cure". This six-story, 295,000 SF wellness resort was built on the former Kutsher's Country Club property in Monticello, NY.
  60. ^ "CATSKILLS: Abandoned Pines Hotel Destroyed in Massive Blaze". Yeshiva World News. Brooklyn, NY: The Jewish Content Network. 2023-06-18. Retrieved 2024-04-23. The once grandiose Pines Hotel, formerly a prominent establishment in the Catskill Mountains' renowned "Borsht Belt," was consumed by a massive blaze and destroyed, early Sunday morning. The abandoned hotel, located on Laural Avenue in South Fallsburg, has been closed since 1998 due to financial struggles and structural damage.
  61. ^ Faige Jacobs, ed. (2024). "Grove Day Camp". Far Rockaway, NY. Retrieved 2024-04-23. Located at The Grove in South Fallsburg
  62. ^ "Happenings at Hunter". Special. The New York Times. Hunter, NY (published 1909-08-01). 1909-07-31. Retrieved 2024-04-21. One of the most successful affairs held at Hunter this season was the theatrical performance for the benefit of the Hebrew Infant Asylum, given at Thomaschefsky's Paradise Garden Theatre on Saturday evening when "Chaim in America" was presented by the Yiddish players of the People's Theatre in New York, under the direction of Mr. and Mrs. Boris Thomashefsky and Mr. Ellis Glickman of Chicago.
  63. ^ Danna Paz Prins (2018-12-18). "Yada Yada Yada: 15 Greatest Moments in Jewish Comedy History". Tel Aviv, Israel: Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot. Archived from the original on 2020-06-28. In celebration of our blockbuster exhibit, "Let There Be Laughter – Jewish Humor Around the World", honoring the contributions of Jews to the world of comedy, we at the Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot unveiled a list of the 15 greatest moments in the history of Jewish comedy. Headlining the list are Seinfeld, Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner's "2,000-Year-Old Man" routine, the "Borscht Belt", Joan Rivers' 1965 debut on The Tonight Show, Adam Sandler's "The Chanukah Song", and Henny Youngman's signature "Take my wife, please."
  64. ^ Kalka, Steven (2011-12-21). Pollard, Stephen (ed.). "Old Jewish Catskill Comedian's Classic Jokes". The Jewish Chronicle. London. ISSN 0021-633X. OCLC 5955238. Retrieved 2024-04-23. There were so many fabulous Jewish comedians, many of whom started in the Jewish Catskills; Shecky Greene, Red Buttons,Totie Fields,Joey Bishop,Milton Berle,Jan Murray,Danny Kaye,Henny Youngman, Buddy Hackett, Sid Caesar, Groucho Marx, Jackie Mason, Victor Borge, Woody Allen, Joan Rivers, Lenny Bruce, George Burns, Allan Sherman, Jerry Lewis, Peter Sellers, Carl Reiner, Shelley Berman, Gene Wilder, George Jessel, Alan King, Mel Brooks, Phil Silvers, Jack Carter, Rodney Dangerfield, Don Rickles, Jack Benny, Mansel Rubenstein, and so many others.
  65. ^ Bangs, Richard (2016-08-06). "Al Hirshen Comes of Age in The Catskills". Medium. Retrieved 2024-10-09. As a young boy, I would run home from school every day to turn on the TV and drink in whatever show or movie was playing. It turned out all my favorite performers were veterans of the Catskills, Borscht Belt comedians, mostly Eastern European Ashkenazi Jews, who cut their teeth in the Catskills at resorts like Grossinger's, Brickman's, and The Overlook. The catalogue is thick of the funnymen with Catskills cred who flickered in my living room: Woody Allen, Morey Amsterdam, Bea Arthur, Milton Berle, Shelley Berman, Joey Bishop, Mel Blanc, Mel Brooks, Lenny Bruce, George Burns & Gracie Allen, Red Buttons, Sid Caesar, Billy Crystal, Rodney Dangerfield, Phyllis Diller, Totie Fields, Shecky Greene, Buddy Hackett, Danny Kaye, Alan King, Robert Klein, Harvey Korman, Jerry Lewis, Richard Lewis, Chico + Harpo Marx, Jackie Mason, Zero Mostel, Carl Reiner, Don Rickles, Joan Rivers, Rowan & Martin, Mort Sahl, Soupy Sales, Dick Shawn, Allan Sherman, Phil Silvers, Arnold Stang, David Steinberg, Jerry Stiller, The Three Stooges, Jonathan Winters, Ed Wynn, Henny Youngman; and on, as some above would say, ad libitum.
  66. ^ Kaplan, Arie (2024) [2001]. "1950s Jewish Humor". Reform Judaism. New York City. Retrieved 2024-04-23 – via My Jewish Learning. Before World War II, the Jewish presence in the comedic entertainment world was marked by humiliating self-caricature. [..] In the late '40s, Jewish road comedians were an obscure breed; with the advent of television, they could became instant celebrities. [..] 'Whatever makes us what we are, that's what worked its way in–that sense of irony, a sense of caustic wit, of defensive wit, offensive wit, all the tools that 3,000 years of getting kicked in the yarmulke will instill in you.'
  67. ^ Tress, Luke (2024-04-17). "New stand-up shows aim to revive the Borscht Belt's Jewish comedy legacy". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. New York City: 70 Faces Media. Retrieved 2024-04-23. Savone said that Borscht Belt comedians typically took a traditional approach, with performers doing "typical set up, punch lines." Today, however, many "podcast comics," as he calls them, use a more personal and longform approach. ... [Levine's] sets include jokes about his Holocaust survivor grandmother, his dating life as an Ashkenazi Jew, and how Jewish law firms don't use jingles in their advertisements.
  68. ^ Logan, Brian (2016-12-05). "Jewish humour ain't what it used to be". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2024-04-23. But Bernstein's gig insisted on the necessity of irony, seeming to believe that these kinds of material – puns, classic one-liners, gentle-chauvinist gags about nationalities and henpecking wives – can no longer be performed without it. (Anyone who's seen Jackie Mason in recent years will know this not to be true.)
  69. ^ "Our Mission". Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project. 2024. Retrieved 2024-09-28. As of our inception in 2022, there are no historical markers dedicated to the Borscht Belt era in either Sullivan or Ulster County. [...] Marisa Scheinfeld: Founder & Project Director
  70. ^ "Historic Marker Text". Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project. 2024. Retrieved 2024-09-28. Text is displayed on the backside of each historic marker
  71. ^ "Support the Marker Project". Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project. 2024. Retrieved 2024-09-28. While our historic markers themselves are generously funded by the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation, we are appreciative of any donations toward our programming efforts.
  72. ^ "Overnight Fire Destroys Heiden Hotel of 'Sweet Lorraine' fame". Times Herald-Record. Middletown, NJ. 2008-05-18. Archived from the original on 2019-09-01. Retrieved 2024-04-21. The Borscht Belt era hotel was not in use and no injuries have been reported. The Heiden was featured in the 1987 film Sweet Lorraine about a struggling Catskill's hotel starring Maureen Stapleton.
  73. ^ Stack, Liam (2022-08-17). "Catskills Hotel That Inspired 'Dirty Dancing' Suffers Devastating Fire". The New York Times. Retrieved 2024-04-21. Eleanor Bergstein, the screenwriter of Dirty Dancing, has spoken frequently in interviews of her childhood vacations to Grossinger's and the impact they had on the film.
  74. ^ Storr, Robert (1991-12-17). "Projects 32: Art Spiegelman". The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 2024-04-21. MAUS and MAUS II follow the tribulations of Vladek Spiegelman from the ghetto to Auschwitz to the Catskills.
  75. ^ Caroline, Hallerman (2020-05-28). "The The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Camp, an Iconic New York Resort, Is Up for Sale". Town & Country. New York City: Hearst Magazine Media. Retrieved 2024-04-23. Scott's Family Resort on Oquaga Lake stands in for Steiner's in the popular period drama.
  76. ^ Frick, Evelyn (2024-10-01). "Saturday Night Pays Homage to the Jews Who Built SNL". Hey Alma. Retrieved 2024-10-10. Jewish food gets another mention when, in a moment when Lorne Michaels feels ready to call it quits, he walks to a bar near 30 Rock and sees a Borscht Belt-esque comedian badly performing good jokes. He strikes up a conversation with a guy meticulously making notes in a binder filled with over 1,100 punchlines. It turns out to be the man who wrote the jokes, aka Alan Zweibel. Michaels hires Zweibel on the spot, but not before the Borscht Belt comedian tries to protest, saying that Zweibel is just some guy who slices pastrami at a deli in Queens.
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