Museum at Eldridge Street raises $625,000 at Spring Gala & Celebration; Mayor Bloomberg presents award to law firm Fried Frank

The Museum at Eldridge St., located in the Eldridge Street Synagogue, a stunning National Historic Landmark, held its annual Spring Gala & Celebration on May 29th at Manhattan's Gotham Hall. The event raised $625,000 and honored the contributions of prominent law firm Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, Richard Rabinowitz and Steven Walsey, for their roles in the museum's ongoing success. The evening included a silent and live auction, awards ceremony, and entertainment for the more than 300 people in attendance. This year's gala was chaired by Arlene Goldfarb, and co-chaired by Wendy and Jonathan Mechanic; Jeffrey Gural; Valerie Jacob; and Michael Weinstein and Millen Magese. Fried Frank was presented the award by the honorable mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Rabinowitz and Walsey, were presented by Roberta Brandes Gratz and Bonnie Dimun, respectively. "We are honored to be recognized for our work in support of The Museum at Eldridge Street and the Synagogue over the last 20 years," said Mechanic, who accepted the award together with Jacob on behalf of Fried Frank, where Mechanic serves as partner and chairman of the real estate group and Jacob serves as chair of the firm. "We are pleased to play a vital role in preserving this National Landmark, and supporting the educational center for years to come. We are thrilled to be part of this event that helps raise funds to continue the Museum's mission." The funds raised go to strengthening, supporting and promoting the 1887 landmark Eldridge Street Synagogue as a dynamic cultural and educational center that tells the story of Jewish immigrant life at the turn of the last century. The Eldridge Street Synagogue is the nation's first great house of worship built in America by East European Jews. Today, it is the only remaining marker of the great wave of Jewish migration to the Lower East Side that is open to a broad public. The Museum received nearly every major preservation honor, including the prestigious National Trust for Historic Preservation 2008 Preservation Award and the Metropolitan Chapter of the Victorian Society in America Restoration Award for its restoration of the Eldridge Street Synagogue - conducted with a "combination of rigor and affection" in the words of New Yorker architectural critic Paul Goldberger. The Museum at Eldridge St. is located in the Eldridge Street Synagogue, a magnificent National Historic Landmark that re-opened in December 2007 after an extensive, $20 million restoration. Since its re-opening more than 100,000 people from around the world have participated in exhibits, tours, cultural events and educational programs that present the history and heritage of this historic house of worship and the Jewish immigrant community of the Lower East Side.