{"id":252721,"date":"2026-06-02T21:14:51","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T21:14:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/252721\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T21:14:51","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T21:14:51","slug":"chabad-of-flatbush-saves-a-decaying-piece-of-brooklyn-history-the-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/252721\/","title":{"rendered":"Chabad of Flatbush saves a decaying piece of Brooklyn history \u2013 The Forward"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Chana<\/p>\n

Chana and Zalman Liberow, the couple behind Chabad of Flatbush. Photo by Hannah Feuer<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Hannah<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tBy Hannah Feuer<\/a><\/p>\n

June 2, 2026<\/p>\n

A Dutch Colonial home,\u00a0 just one of a handful of pre-Revolutionary War houses left in New York City, has been vacant and decaying for years. The windows are boarded up, signs warning against trespassing cover the property, and chunks of the ceiling are missing inside.<\/p>\n

This historic landmark has an unlikely savior: Chabad, the global Lubavitch movement, which is planting one of its thousands of outposts there.<\/p>\n

\u201cDilapidated is an understatement,\u201d Rabbi Zalman Liberow of Chabad of Flatbush said as he gave the Forward a tour.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tThe boarded-up property.
\n\t\t\t\t
Photo by Hannah Feuer<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tSigns warning against trespassing cover the home.
\n\t\t\t\t
Photo by Hannah Feuer
\n\t\t\t\t
<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tInside, chunks of the ceiling are missing.
\n\t\t\t\t
Photo by Hannah Feuer<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tA poster of the Rebbe hangs on the wall.
\n\t\t\t\t
Photo by Hannah Feuer
\n\t\t\t\t
<\/p>\n

Chabad of Flatbush, led by Liberow and his wife, Chana, bought the historic Brooklyn property in December 2024 and will soon begin renovations to make the place livable. In the meantime, the couple has already transformed the barnhouse next door into a sanctuary, where a photo of the Lubavitch rebbe hangs on the wall near a compartment once used to store hay.<\/p>\n

As other Jewish organizations have shifted toward digital community, Chabad has continued investing heavily in brick-and-mortar real estate, ranging from modest suburban homes to multimillion-dollar towers<\/a> and converted landmarks. It\u2019s a strategy that anchors Chabad in the communities it serves, but can also be costly: For the most part, Chabad couples \u2014\u00a0each unit headed by a rabbi and rebbitzin \u2014 finance their own operations, raising their own money to buy homes and establish centers of Jewish life.<\/p>\n

The Liberows said a generous donation of Bitcoin from a donor, Eliot Stavrach, ultimately allowed them to purchase the 22,000 square foot lot for roughly $3 million, along with securing a high-interest loan to pay the mortgage while the couple awaited the sale of their old headquarters down the street. Last week, that transaction went through and reaped nearly $1.1 million.<\/p>\n

The seller had also cut the asking price by nearly half, offloading what had become a white elephant, Liberow said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor him, it was a pain. For us, it was good,\u201d Liberow said. \u201cAnd I thought, even better, this is such an important piece of United States history.\u201d<\/p>\n

The prior landlord had reportedly struggled to find a buyer<\/a> for the landmarked home, which by law cannot be demolished, and any alterations to the facade must be pre-approved by the city Landmarks Preservation Commission. In buying the home, the Liberows are also preventing its further deterioration \u2014 to the relief of neighbors who said the abandoned site had become a hotspot for drug use and a symbol of neglect.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just happy that the house will not be torn down and will actually have a future \u2014 a good one, it seems,\u201d said Lori Citron Knipel, a former leader in the Brooklyn Democratic Party who used to frequent the house. \u201cSo that absolutely warms my heart, because it\u2019s been breaking every time I pass it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The house\u2019s history<\/p>\n

The Wyckoff-Bennett Homestead is likely among the ten oldest properties in Brooklyn and the 50 oldest houses in all of New York City, according to Simeon Bankoff, former executive director of the Historic Districts Council.<\/p>\n

A 1968 report<\/a> from the Landmarks Preservation Commission noted that \u201ctwo hundred years of wear have done little to diminish the simple beauty of its clear-cut profile,\u201d and described it as \u201cthe most beautiful example of Dutch Colonial architecture in Brooklyn.\u201d<\/p>\n

The house is also notable for its role in the Revolutionary War: During the conflict, it quartered German soldiers fighting for the British, known as Hessians. Two of the soldiers etched their names and units into a windowpane.<\/p>\n

A historical marker at the house notes that those troops may have taken part in the Battle of Brooklyn, the first major battle after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.<\/p>\n

According to Liberow, local legend holds that George Washington once stopped at the Wyckoff-Bennett house for tea \u2014 though, \u201cwe never did find the teacup,\u201d he joked.<\/p>\n

Bankoff attributed the properties\u2019 staying power partly to the fact that prior to a venture called 22nd Street Investors LLC purchasing the lots in 2021, the property had only ever been owned by three families over more than 250 years.<\/p>\n

Hendrick H. Wyckoff, son of a Dutch settler who emigrated to New Amsterdam in 1637, is believed to have built the house before 1766. In 1835, Cornelius W. Bennett purchased it, and it remained in the Bennett family for four generations before a Jewish couple, Annette and Stuart Mont, bought the property in 1983.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tThe renovated sanctuary.
\n\t\t\t\t
Photo by Hannah Feuer<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tThe antique Richardson & Boynton Co. stove.
\n\t\t\t\t
Photo by Hannah Feuer
\n\t\t\t\t
<\/p>\n

\u2018A piece of Brooklyn\u2019s history\u2019<\/p>\n

The Monts had a deep appreciation for the home\u2019s history, Citron Knipel said, and often opened it to the community. They hosted political fundraisers, birthday parties, and even a wedding at the house, she said, and they welcomed school groups into their home for local history field trips.<\/p>\n

Only the facade of the house is landmarked, making its preservation legally required. But the Monts also preserved its interior details, including furniture from the Wyckoffs and Bennetts, an ornate fireplace framed by decorative tiles depicting biblical scenes, and an antique Richardson & Boynton Co. stove.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a sense of being part of and having a responsibility to the rest of the community to preserve it and move it forward,\u201d Stu said in the 2013 documentary Living in a Landmark<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd share it,\u201d Annette added. \u201cBecause we have bought a piece of Brooklyn\u2019s history.\u201d<\/p>\n

But an effort to secure the home\u2019s legacy fell apart in 2010. The Monts had been in talks with the city to purchase the property, only to withdraw after the city reduced the sale price, deducting the rent the Monts theoretically would have paid to continue living there.<\/p>\n

Annette died in 2013 at age 72, and Stuart died three years later at age 76. Their children, Ira and Randi Mont, sold the property to 22nd Street Investors LLC, registered to real estate investor Avraham Dishi, in 2021.<\/p>\n

In an interview with the Forward, Ira Mont said he believed at the time of sale that 22nd Street Investors LLC would keep the house in good condition \u2014 and was disappointed that they ultimately did not.<\/p>\n

Dishi drew two complaints for failing to maintain the Wyckoff Bennett house: one for the poor condition of the fence, still active, and another for the condition of the facade and roof, later withdrawn.<\/p>\n

Officials at a Landmarks Preservation Commission hearing in March<\/a> to discuss the Liberows\u2019 minor proposed changes to the home noted there had been \u201call kinds of vandalism, fires, squatters, [and] drug users\u201d there in recent years.<\/p>\n

The Forward reached Dishi\u2019s office by phone and left a message, but did not hear back.<\/p>\n

Liberow said he has big plans for the house pending approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission, including displaying a video in the front yard highlighting Jewish history in the United States. The Commission has already approved plans to install porch railings, a curb cut and a driveway at the site. And like the Motts, the couple plans to open the space up to the public. They\u2019ve already begun hosting Hebrew school and holiday gatherings in the barnhouse next door, which they renovated for about $200,000 with rustic touches including wood paneling, barrels, lanterns and candle chandeliers.<\/p>\n

For neighbors, the most meaningful change may simply be that the property is occupied at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got a very big welcome over here, because everyone\u2019s so happy,\u201d Liberow said. \u201cSomeone is going to save the property.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hannah Feuer joined the Forward as a general assignment reporter in May 2025 after two years as a culture reporter at Seven Days, an independent weekly in Burlington, Vermont. Originally from the Washington, D.C., area, she is a 2023 graduate of Northwestern University\u2019s Medill School of Journalism.<\/p>\n

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