Pictured in order: Outdoor dancing at the Waldemere Hotel. Courtesy of Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project. Marisa Scheinfeld at a marker dedication. Louis Inghilterra in the Winter Lodge of the Nevele Hotel in Ellenville. Louis Inghilterra in the bar of the Pines Resort in South Fallsburg. Photos courtesy Louis Inghilterra. The Concord Resort Hotel in Kiamesha Lake.Concord Hotel marker. Courtesy of Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project.
Katonah’s Marisa Scheinfeld and the Catskills’ revival
By ROBERT BRUM
Marisa Scheinfeld calls Katonah home nowadays, but her heart really never left the Catskills.
The Brooklyn-born photographer and author grew up in Kiamesha Lake and spent summers working at the Concord, one of the grandest hotels in the “Borscht Belt,” which stretched from Sullivan into Ulster County.
“Growing up in the Catskills was akin to a bit of magic,” Scheinfeld, 44, said recently. “It instilled a sense of exploration and adventure in me. When I think about that time, it’s full of joy, it’s full of my grandparents, it’s full of my parents.”
The Concord closed in the late 1990s, decades after the Borscht Belt’s heyday of the 1920s to 1970s, when tens of thousands of vacationers arrived each summer — predominantly Jewish vacationers who were excluded from other vacation spots.
‘I think the significance of the cultural arts and entertainment and architecture, I’ve always found it shocking that it’s not featured in New York history overall. We get the Woodstock part, but we don’t really get the birthplace of stand-up comedy and the inclusivity.’ — Louis Inghilterra
With the demise of “The Mountains,” many of its iconic hotels — like Kutsher’s, the Nevele and Grossinger’s — have vanished. The Concord itself has been replaced by a casino.
“Later in life, looking at the immense history and not only its impact on American Jewish life but Catskill history as well as American culture, entertainment, music, film, sports and comedy, I see the remains of the era disappearing with each passing year,” Scheinfeld said.
Determined to keep memories of this rich period from slipping away, Scheinfeld founded the Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project, whose website can be found at maytheborschtbewithyou.org.
Two-sided aluminum plaques have been placed at nine locations with five more on the way next summer with an ultimate goal of 20 markers. Each is inscribed on one side with a synopsis of Borscht Belt history, and on the other side with specifics about each site.
The Monticello marker, for instance, notes that the village was once home to some 65 hotels and 133 bungalow colonies, including Kutsher’s Country Club, the Borscht Belt’s longest running resort. Muhammad Ali trained at Kutsher’s, Wilt Chamberlain worked as a bellhop there, and entertainers included Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Jerry Seinfeld and Joan Rivers.
“There has never been an area with such a high concentration of hotels,” Scheinfeld said. “The community that was cultivated there, the bonds and the relationships that were cultivated there, and of course the countless artists who found inspiration, freedom, rebellion, creativity and a space to just be themselves.”
The markers reach beyond the Jewish experience, dipping into the region’s wider significance.
The Kiamesha Lake marker honors a speech by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that he gave at the Concord, 10 days before he was assassinated. The plaque in Bethel notes that Paul Robeson performed at an interracial hotel, weeks before the riot that occurred during his Peekskill concert.
A self-guided audio driving tour will eventually lead visitors to all 20 sites on the markers’ historic trail.
Louis Inghilterra, the project’s co-founder and research coordinator, began exploring the Catskills when he was growing up in Katonah, photographing the remains of the once-thriving resorts.
“I’m not Jewish myself, so I don’t have that connection,” said Inghilterra, 25, who now lives in Denver, Colo. “But I think the significance of the cultural arts and entertainment and architecture, I’ve always found it shocking that it’s not featured in New York history overall.”
He added, “We get the Woodstock part, but we don’t really get the birthplace of stand-up comedy and the inclusivity,” alluding to resorts that welcomed African American, Latino and LGBTQ visitors.
Catskills 2.0
The end of the Borscht Belt era, brought on by societal and economic shifts, took a steep toll on the Catskills. But Scheinfeld is heartened by renewed interest in the region.
The series “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” with episodes set at a Borscht Belt resort, a “Dirty Dancing” sequel filmed in the mountains, and attractions like Resorts World casino and Bethel Woods Center for the Arts have put the region back on the map.
“It’s something that I’m incredibly happy to see, the reflowering of so many small towns,” Scheinfeld said. “Livingston Manor in particular is one of the hippest towns now, and we’re so happy to be putting a historic marker there, because in this sense this project not only celebrates the past but it also sits alongside the present.”
As the new wave of tourists flock to the Catskills, they’re greeted by the colorful markers placed by Scheinfeld and her nonprofit project.
“I think this is a really beautiful way to merge the past and the present,” she said.
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Uncovering our hidden history
Katonah photographer and author Marisa Scheinfeld’s next project is a book delving into a familiar topic but reaching beyond to include her hometown.
“The book is going to be about historical locations that are often unseen or have kind of been lost in many ways, from Westchester all the way through the Hudson Valley and the Catskills,” said Scheinfeld, the married mom of two children, ages 1 and 5. “So it kind of goes from Katonah where I live now, all the way up to the Catskills, where I grew up.”
For one entry, she photographed remnants of Old Katonah from before the hamlet was moved to make way for the Cross River Reservoir, including woodlands, sidewalks and an old bridge just north of Route 35 at the junction of Interstate 684.
Sites in Peekskill and South Salem are also among the images captured for the yet-untitled publication.
Scheinfeld, who teaches photography at the School of Art+Design at SUNY Purchase College, is co-authoring the book with her younger sister, Jillian.
The 2016 book, “The Borscht Belt: Revisiting the Remains of America's Jewish Vacationland,” features Scheinfeld’s photographs.
Her work is among the collections of the Library of Congress, The New York Public Library, Center for Jewish History, the Yiddish Book Center, Simon Wiesenthal Center, and International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation.
Scheinfeld will be speaking at Purchase College on “Photography as Preservation,” discussing the Borscht Belt project and her next book, Wednesday, Oct. 16, at 10 a.m. The talk is open to the public. For more information, visit purchase.edu.calendar.