Venue: 92nd Street Y
Town: New York City, US

92nd Street Y, New York (92NY) is a cultural and community center located in the Carnegie Hill neighborhood of the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, at the corner of East 92nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Founded in 1874 as the Young Men's Hebrew Association, the 92nd Street Y (often simply called "the Y") transformed from a secular social club to a large arts and cultural center in the 20th century. In 1874, a group of German-Jewish professionals established the New York Young Men's Hebrew Association (YMHA). The founders were predominantly members of the Temple Shaaray Tefila, or synagogue, and New York's YMHA and others across the country grew out of existing Jewish congregations. The YMHA itself was a secular organization intended to serve as a social and literary fraternity. Officially incorporated on September 10, 1874, the YMHA would initially operate out of rented premises on 112 West 21st Street. A few years later, the organization would move to larger accommodations on 110 West 42nd Street; the Y also operated a downtown branch, where Emma Lazarus taught English to immigrants. This branch would later merge with other organizations to become the Educational Alliance. As the organization grew, it began integrating more Judaism into its programming. In 1878, the YMHA held its first Hannakuh Festival, which became an annual tradition. The secularized celebration of Jewish holidays like Hannakuh and Purim, according to historian Jonathan Sarna, helped save the holiday from obscurity and was part of the creation of an American Jewish identity and culture. Celebrations of the High Holidays began in 1900. These were soon followed by regular Friday evening services that grew in average attendance from 172 in 1901 to more than 400 in 1903, though secular activities remained far more popular. In 1886 the YMHA moved from 42nd Street to 721 Lexington Avenue near 58th Street, and in 1895 to 111 East 59th Street. The Y would find a permanent home through the