New York – Police believe a fire that destroyed an abandoned lower East Side synagogue that once housed the city’s oldest Orthodox Jewish congregation was deliberately set.
Chief of Detectives Robert Boyce said Tuesday police were reviewing surveillance video showing several teens fleeing the area at the time of the blaze around 7 p.m. Sunday.
It took firefighters about two hours to bring the fire on Norfolk Street under control.
No injuries were reported.
The Gothic structure was originally built in 1850 as a Baptist church.
It was home to Beth Hamedrash Hagodol for over 120 years ago.
The synagogue was closed in 2007.
