Faded Stones

Sandwiched between two large buildings on West 21st Street can be found a tiny slice of New York history—the Third Cemetery of the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue. Founded in 1829 by Shearith Israel, the oldest Jewish congregation in America, the cemetery was in operation until 1851 (a law the next year forbade burials in Manhattan below 86th Street). Today its 250 tombstones and markers are faded and many broken. Yet there is a certain tenacity about these stones, the fact that they continue to stand regardless of the passing of time, that you can't help but be moved by them.

Photo by Michele.