Edith and Carl Marks Jewish Community House of Bensonhurst
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The Edith and Carl Marks Jewish Community House of Bensonhurst, known as "the J", was incorporated in 1927 and has helped over one million Jews in the Bensonhurst section of New York City's borough of Brooklyn. It initially served as a community center for Eastern European Jewish immigrants and their children. As the complexion of the Jewish community in Bensonhurst changed, its community center changed in accord. During the 1940s and 1950s, a large influx of Syrian Jews immigrated to the area. It was during this period that Sandy Koufax, the son of Syrian Jewish immigrants, played on the basketball courts of "the J".
In the 1980s, a third wave of immigrants, this time from the former Soviet Union, once again shifted the focus of the community center to that of a settlement house.
Former members include:
- Sandy Koufax - Baseball Hall of Famer
- Gary David Goldberg - creator of television series such as Family Ties, Spin City and Brooklyn Bridge
- Harvey Fierstein - Tony Award winning writer of Torch Song Trilogy and gay rights activist
