The Jewish Council of Yonkers

600 North Broadway, Yonkers, NY 10701

 Established in 1919

About Us

History of the JCY (this section will include photos of the JCY)

In 1919 the Jewish Federation of Yonkers was formed.  As the Jewish population, particularly young children and teens increased in numbers, their objective was to develop a meeting place for them.  Several temporary meeting places were acquired.  The Jewish population continued to increase.  Therefore a decision was made to develop a new JCC building.

In 1923 the Jewish Federation developed the Jewish Center Committee.  Both entities planned the details of the building.

In 1929 a 43,000 square foot building, including a swimming pool, health club, gym, auditorium and danced studio, opened at 122 South Broadway in downtown Yonkers (opposite St. Joseph’s Hospital). This building served the community for many years.

On December 20, 1965 a fire was set by a teenager, Thomas Ruppert, who was being trained as a maintenance aide. The fire caused 12 deaths and several serious injuries to participants in the Music School on the 4^th floor of the JCC building.

From 1966-1972 Murray Gunner was Executive Director of both the Jewish Community Center and Jewish Federation.

In 1967 Arthur Friedland became the President of the Jewish Federation. This new role was developed.

In 1968 a new development took place.  The Jewish Community Center published The Center News, a widely read paper. This newspaper continues today as the Westchester Jewish Chronicle and is privately owned.

In the meantime, several population changes were taking place.  The Jewish population in Southwest Yonkers was beginning to decrease.  There was a substantial increase in the number of black and Latino populations. The schools reflected this population change.  Standards in the schools changed.

In 1972  New York Federation accepted two agencies as beneficiaries:  a) Jewish Federation became Jewish Council of Yonkers; and b) Jewish Community Center was to become a separate institution (no longer a committee of Jewish Federation).

In 1973 Graenum Berger from Federation offered $50,000 as a beginning allocation. That was the beginning of the JCY relationship with Federation.

The Jewish Federation of Yonkers had to change its name to the Jewish Council of Yonkers in 1973, based on a request made by NY Federation.

In 1990 the executive director’s primary responsibility was to put out a weekly newspaper.  There was a lack of other programs and deficits were mounting.  NY Federation insisted on programs, not only on a newspaper.

We then began Coming to America program which is now Passport to Yonkers

Our scholarship program was started as well as Cultural festivals.

SMART (Students and Mature Adults Read Together) began as our first intergenerational program in March 1997.

STACK (Students Teach Adults Computer Knowledge) and Meeting Hate with Humanity began in 1998.

In 2002 The Westchester County Dept. of Senior Programs and Services asked us to direct Open Book: Reading Aloud is Ageless at the Westchester Medical Center.

Currently we are Westchester’s leader in intergenerational volunteer programming. We sponsor literacy programs, services to the aged and homeless, and we provide programs to improve our relationships with other ethnic and racial groups

Revised October 11, 2007

Who we are

Some employee and volunteer short bios with photos