Woodridge
22 Green Avenue, Woodridge
Historic Marker Text
First incorporated in 1911 and known as Centreville, Woodridge had early roots as an agricultural community with farms and boarding houses. Officially named Woodridge by 1917, it had five Jewish-owned-and-operated consumer cooperatives, which due to the anti-Semitic climate of the time, allowed for further establishment of Jews in the area. The village had connections to the American Labor Party, the Workmen’s Circle, and Marxist movements. It's population, although mostly Jewish, included a diverse group of nationalities. Notable area residents were social activist Louis Proyect and Allen Young, a Gay Liberation Movement activist. By the 1950s, Woodridge was home to about 50 hotels and 39 bungalow colonies. The Vegetarian Hotel catered to vegetarians and naturalists. Grine Felder was an exclusive bungalow colony that hosted artists, bohemians and Yiddish music and theater performers. Other destinations were Hotels Israel, Rosemond and Sunny Oaks. In 1995, Sunny Oaks hosted the first History of the Catskills Conference, which later formed the Catskills Institute.
woodridge dedication ceremony
SPEAKERS
Joan Collins: Mayor of Woodridge
Phil Brown: Professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies at Brown University and founder of the Catskills Institute, which began in Woodridge in 1995. Then called the History of the Catskills Conference, the Institute is now one of the largest archives of Catskills items and records.
Jay Kasofsky: Lifelong local, Grandson of Jacob and Ethel Kasofsky, son of Rafiel and Gussie Kasofsky who founded House of Joy, which became the Avon Lodge along with Grine Felder Bungalow Colony.
Allen Young: Grew up on his family farm called Young’s Poultry Farm located in Glen Wild. He has vivid memories of cracking open eggs to fill up gallon jars and selling to Woodridge businesses such as Mortman’s Bakery, including the one time when he dropped one of those gallon jars and watched yellow, runny eggs roll down Main Street. Allen is a graduate from Fallsburg High School, a Fulbright scholar, author, an activist and pivotal figure Gay liberation movement of the 1960s.
Bruce Konviser: A grandson of Fannie Shafer and Abe Konviser who founded the Vegetarian Hotel circa 1920.
Julia Arenson: Daughter of Cynthia and Ted Arenson whose family owned and operated Sunny Oaks for four generations.
woodridge dedication video
August 25, 2024
Woodridge, NY
Woodridge New York
Hotel Israel
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