NY1:

A 150-year-old synagogue was torn down Friday on the Lower East Side. The First Roumanian-American Congregation had to be torn down after it was determined to be structurally unsound because of weakened trusses, making the site unsafe for the adjacent buildings and pedestrians. Neighbors and worshippers say they could feel the pain of loss as the building was taken down. �I can appreciate the beauty. I�m not Jewish, but I do appreciate how beautiful it was,� said area resident Josh Maretti. �It meant so much to so many people that it�s kind of sad. It�s a sad thing to see it gone.� �I try to think and imagine and think of all the history that is buried in this rubble,� said Rabbi Shmuel Spiegel of the Roumanian-American Congregation. �And the personal memories that I have from childhood till today, which sadly to say, I only have memories and won’t be able to walk through the halls anymore and try to visualize it as I used to.” The rabbi says they were able to save all of the historic Torah scrolls before the synagogue was demolished….