[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 58 (Wednesday, May 7, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E864]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   HONORING RIVERSIDE MEMORIAL CHAPEL

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                          HON. ELIOT L. ENGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, May 7, 1997

  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to speak in honor of the Riverside 
Memorial Chapel which is celebrating its 100th anniversary. It can be 
said that the Riverside Chapel has been a mirror of the Jewish 
community of New York City which it has served so faithfully for the 
past century.
  It started in 1897 when Louis Meyers provided a horse-drawn funeral 
livery service on the lower East Side. These modest beginnings 
reflected the state of Jews in New York as recent emigrants. The 
company followed a newer generation to Harlem and in 1926 made a 
landmark move to Amsterdam Avenue and 76th Street, still the signature 
location of what was to become Riverside Chapel.
  This spectacular four-story building, with its Gothic style chapel 
and hand-painted religious frescoes, had an implicit dedication to the 
sensibilities of the three main streams of Judaism. In 1933 Edward and 
Herman Meyers, grandsons of Louis Meyers, bought the company, renamed 
it Riverside Memorial Chapel and opened chapels in Far Rockaway and 
Miami Beach. After World War II, Riverside expanded by purchasing the 
adjoining building and building new chapels in Brooklyn, the Bronx, and 
Mount Vernon.
  Riverside has also expanded throughout the country to establish a 
national presence so that as Jews left New York City they could still 
have a ``Riverside'' funeral. Riverside Chapel has acquired a sterling 
reputation for service, thanks in part to my close friend, Senior Vice 
President David A. Alpert. Riverside Chapel is a landmark in New York 
City which has earned our praise.

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