History of the Jewish Center of Jackson Heights

The Jewish Center of Jackson Heights has 100 years of history. The Jewish Center was founded as the Queens Independence Society in 1919, when a few Jewish families, began to meet for services. The center assumed its current name in 1927.

Our community grew rapidly in the 1940s as Jackson Heights welcomed recent immigrants. By 1970 there were weekly bar mitzvahs and a Hebrew school of 300 students at the Jewish Center.

In the 1950s, the Jewish Center built its first sanctuary north of Roosevelt Avenue. That building was on 82nd Street between 35th and 37th Avenues. That space served our community until 1997; that building was sold to the New York City Department of Education.

We have met in our current location, on 77th St. at the corner of 37th Ave., since 2000.