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Catskills

Elaine Grossinger Etess (second from right) with son Mitchell Grossinger Etess (left) and great-grandchildren Ashley and Mark Etess, grandchildren of the late Mark Etess. (Courtesy Grossinger Etess family via JTA)
February 3, 2026, 7:50 am
Elaine Grossinger Etess, 3rd-generation owner of famous Catskills resort, dies at 98
As longtime owner of the legendary hotel nicknamed ‘Waldorf in the Catskills,’ Grossinger Etess catered to the Borscht Belt with kosher meals and a sanctuary from segregation
By Jackie Hajdenberg
A Box of Grossinger's Rye Cracker Boards, produced by Streit's Matzos. (Courtesy Harris Salomon via JTA)
July 29, 2025, 12:51 am
Grossinger’s iconic rye bread rises again — in a new form
The Borscht Belt resort that served as the inspiration for ‘Dirty Dancing’ is the subject of a new scripted TV show – and it’s launching a product aimed at stoking fans’ appetites
By Jackie Hajdenberg
New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a press briefing, February 16, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
May 8, 2025, 6:49 am
Upstate NY legal battle underlines Hasidic community growing pains
New York attorney general backs federal intervention over allegations that town of Forestburgh blocked Jewish development; town rejects ‘inaccurate’ characterization of dispute
By Luke Tress
This 2024 photo provided by John Santoro shows, from left, Dr. Michael Groff, Karenna Groff, Dr. Joy Saini, and James Santoro. (Courtesy John Santoro via AP)
April 14, 2025, 3:19 pm
NY plane crash victims named as family heading to Passover, birthday celebrations
Karenna Groff, who received 2022 prestigious NCAA Woman of the Year award, killed along with her partner, physician parents, brother and his partner as they headed to the Catskills
By Jake Offenhartz
Members of the extreme ultra-Orthodox Lev Tahor sect assisting a woman as they escape from a detention shelter in Huixtla, Chiapas state, Mexico, on September 29, 2022. (Benjamin Alfaro/AFP)
March 29, 2024, 8:16 am
3 defendants in Lev Tahor cult abduction case convicted in NY of 2018 kidnapping
Brothers Yoil Weingarten, Yakov Weingarten and Shmiel Weingarten, of extremist sect, found guilty for their role in abducting two children from their mother’s home in the Catskills
By Luke Tress
An undated image shows the outdoor pool of the Pines resort in South Fallsburg, New York. (Courtesy/Steingart associates via the Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project)
April 29, 2023, 1:44 am
New projects aim to keep Borscht Belt memory alive with historical markers, museum
This summer in the Catskills, programs will place plaques in town centers, open pop-up exhibits, hold a festival and comedy show to commemorate and celebrate Jewish heyday
By Luke Tress
Friars Club dean Freddie Roman poses for photos at the Friars Club Roast of Don Rickles at the Waldorf Astoria on June 24, 2013 in New York. (Greg Allen/Invision/AP)
November 28, 2022, 10:49 am
Comedian Freddie Roman, a Borscht Belt icon, dies at age 85
Born Fred Kirschenbaum, the longtime stand-up comic and former dean of The Friars Club is remembered by friends as ‘the ultimate pro with the biggest heart’
By Lindsey Bahr
Novelist Elyssa Friedland with her new book, 'The Most Likely Club.' (Courtesy)
September 9, 2022, 12:04 pm
Podcast: After writing the great Jewy-American novel, author Elyssa Friedland’s back
This week, the ‘Last Summer at the Golden Hotel’ and ‘Floating Feldmans’ author releases her newest work and tells us all about it. NEW: Full transcript included
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
This photo, provided by the Liberty Township Fire Department, shows a fire that consumed a building at the site of the long-closed Grossinger's resort, once among the most storied and glamorous hotels in New York's Catskills, in Liberty, N.Y., Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022. (Liberty Fire Chief Mark Johnstone via AP)
August 18, 2022, 6:41 am
Fire destroys part of fabled Catskills resort Grossinger’s
Upstate New York property, frequented by stars, Jewish guests and others until it shuttered in 1986, thought to have inspired ‘Dirty Dancing.’ Cause of blaze under investigation
By AP
Illustrative: In the 1950s, during the heyday of this Catskills bungalow colony, 10 women shared the single kitchen. (Courtesy Paula Goldberg via JTA)
April 20, 2021, 5:48 am
Meet the 27-year-old amplifying the sounds of the Borscht Belt
‘Borscht Beat’ radio host Aaron Bendich recalls the heyday of the Jewish vacationland in upstate New York — and gives notes on six of his favorite songs, too
By Andrew Silow-Carroll
An illustrative photo of a cat. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)
July 27, 2020, 6:00 pm
UK pet cat tests positive for coronavirus
‘All available evidence’ indicates the feline likely contracted disease from owners who had been diagnosed with COVID-19
By AFP
Rachel Brosnahan and Zachary Levi in a scene filmed at Scott's Family Resort. (Screenshot from Amazon via JTA)
May 28, 2020, 6:06 am
Mrs. Maisel’s summer retreat can be yours, for just $6m
Scott’s Family Resort in Deposit, NY, a 150-year-old Catskills hangout, has become another victim of the coronavirus crisis, unable to open this summer
By Shira Hanau
Illustrative: An ultra-Orthodox Jew walks by a Jewish school bus, which has a Yiddish sign on the front, in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Borough Park on January 1, 2014. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)
January 24, 2020, 11:07 pm
Bus carrying Hasidic boys to retreat in the Catskills flips over, injuring 18
Injured teens sent to hospitals in the area following accident; Hatzalah says unclear what caused bus to turn over
By Ben Sales
Mel Brooks on 'Mel Brooks Unwrapped': 'It is kind of a walk through my life, a memoir. Some of it is funny and some of it is moving and touching.' (HBO via JTA)
December 17, 2019, 5:13 am
Mel Brooks gets serious in HBO special — but there’s plenty of shtick, too
‘It is kind of a walk through my life,’ the 93-year-old says of ‘Mel Brooks Unwrapped,’ an introspective look at a nearly 60-year career from the Catskills to Hollywood
By Curt Schleier
Lev Tahor girls walking in Chatham, Ontario, in December 2013. (Screen Capture/YouTube)
December 13, 2018, 3:02 am
Jewish religious cult Lev Tahor is suspected of kidnapping kids who broke away
A 14-year-old girl and her 12-year-old brother were last seen getting into a car in the Catskills region of upstate New York
By JTA and ToI Staff
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