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Meet the Jewish architects who designed NYC’s iconic art deco buildings

JL;DR SUMMARY New York City's iconic art deco skyline owes much to the influence of Jewish architects who contributed to this distinctive style during its peak in the 1920s and 1930s. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

New York CityArt DecoTemple Emanu ElEmpire State BuildingArchitectureJewish ArchitectsIrwin ChaninEly Jacques KahnChrysler BuildingEssex House

Places mentioned

New York, United States
"The Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, Radio City Music Hall."
Paris, France
"The design aesthetic first originated in Paris in 1925 at a seven-month art expo, LExposition internationale des arts dcoratifs."
Poltava, Poltavshchyna, Ukraine
"Born in Brooklyn in 1891, Chanin spent part of his childhood in Bensonhurst before the family returned to his fathers hometown of Poltava, Russia (what is now Ukraine)."
Newark, New Jersey, United States
"Jewish architect Frank Grad is probably best known for developing Newark in the mid-century."

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Cairo Item ID 57421
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Retrieved 2025-07-21 18:00:42 UTC
Curated 2025-07-21 19:00:33 UTC