Tanya Towers is an apartment building at 620 East 13th Street in New York City that houses Deaf and hearing. It is believed to be the first of its kind; a place for only Deaf residents then – when it was founded in 1973 by the New York Society of the Deaf, which still runs it.
How It All Came About
The history of Tanya began over sixty years ago when the Hebrew Association of the Deaf (HAD) was formed in 1909 with Dr. Marcus Kenner, who is Deaf, as its first president. HAD became incorporated in 1922 yet Dr. Kenner went a step further. He sensed the need to form a community center for the Deaf where they could learn “to cope with the demands of industry, to develop habits of self-appreciation and self-assurance, as well as establishing a permanent rendezvous for its various affairs”.
Dr. Kenner was able to receive support from Jacob H. Schiff, a New York banker and philanthropist, Rabbi H. P. Mendes with the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue and George Rosenfeld, an industrialist and President of the Lexington School for the Deaf helped to form the New York Society of the Deaf (NYSD), a non-sectarian agency with funding from the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York.
Dr. Kenner agreed when HAD member Max Friedman said “without the NYSD, the HAD might never have survived its growing pains; but for the need of the HAD, the NYSD might never have come into being.”
Executive directors, through the Federation, operated NYSD, and two of its presidents (hearing) had learned sign language and adjusted well in working with Deaf people: A. J. Amat (between 1916 and 1925) and Dr. A. Felix Nash, a graduate of Union of American Hebrew Congregations and Chicago School of Social Work from 1929 to 1932.
Dr. Nash did not limit his activities only to NYSD; he also gave a presentation at the National Association of the Deaf convention in Buffalo, New York in 1930 and attend the unveiling of the De L’Epee statue (a French educator of the deaf in the 1700’s) on the grounds of St. Mary’s School for the Deaf in Buffalo, New York.
In 1931, Dr. Nash’s wife, Tanya (Zolotoroff) who is also hearing joined as assistant director in 1931. After Dr. Nash’s unexpected death when he was only 30, Tanya took over her husband’s position as executive director where she continued for 35 years.
Mrs. Tanya Nash
Devoted Friend Of Deaf People
Despite her limited signing abilities, she was a great and unselfish supporter of Deaf people’s civil rights. Jewish Deaf people in New York communicated with her through a combination of speaking and signing. In addition to running NYSD, she also helped Deaf people find jobs or vocational training through Department of Rehabilitation. She helped Deaf Jews enter the United States from Europe before, during and after World War I1.
Immigration officials during that period were not inclined to allow Deaf people to enter the country because they feared that Deaf people might become a burden on society. Tanya Nash frequently made trips to Ellis Island where Deaf Jewish individuals had stayed and persuaded officials that Deaf people were capable of supporting themselves. She also assisted Deaf people at court hearings for citizenship applications, and interpreted wedding ceremonies of HAD/NYSD members (one wonders how she could interpreted given the testimony of a Tanya Towers resident who knew Tanya as not a great signer herself)!
Finding Creative Ways
According to the New York Post article (circa 1968-1970) (Daily Closeup by Anna Quindlen) mentioned that Tanya’s “methods were not always orthodox, but they worked.” One example in the early days during Tanya’s employment, she brought a couple of Deaf jobseekers to the needle trades for work, removed the “Help Wanted” sign from the window and, paid the doorman 25 cents to let her carry it away.
She also expanded NYSD to provide counseling – psychiatric, vocational and public health services, recreation, tutoring and career education. It was only natural that when the need for an apartment building for Deaf residents came up, it was named in honor of Tanya Nash and her great services. This building was visually oriented with doorbells, call buttons, fire alarms that would light on and off. United Jewish Appeal, Housing and Urban Development Department and many individuals helped financially with this project.
Tanya Towers
Another example of Tanya’s “unorthodox methods” in her later years: NYSD’s (and her) efforts to get the variance and a mortgage for Tanya Towers. A city official who was opposed to the apartment building took her aside at the zoning hearing and told her to go home because, in his word s, “you have too many friends this city. You win.” This was Tanya’s crowning glory and she eventually retired afterwards.
In the beginning years of the Tanya Towers, its residents were mostly Deaf senior citizens. Activities for them included lectures, field trips and card games. Over the years, the number of Deaf residents dwindled so hearing residents were accepted as tenants. The ratio of tenants is now half Deaf and half hearing. Lectures are still provided as well as exercise activities.
Tanya passed away at the age of 89 years old on July 10,1987 in Manhattan, New York. Special thanks to Nelly Myers of New York and NYSD for sending us info to make this article possible. Nelly would like to comment “My family of four was stuck in Ellis Island in 1940. My mom loved her [Tanya] a lot – she helped us by going to Ellis Island almost daily and asking the judge to let us come in the US – because four of us are deaf. The US is afraid that we might be a burden to the US – they knew nothing of the deafness, Tanya told the judge that the deaf people can do anything except hearing – judge let us go free – happy we were.”
