Joan & Alan Bernikow JCC of Staten Island

The Joan & Alan Bernikow JCC of Staten Island is Staten Island’s flagship Jewish community center, founded in 1929 as the Isador Aberlin/North Shore JCC to provide a home for the borough’s Jewish community through social, recreational, and educational activities. Today, the JCC serves people of all walks of life across Staten Island, with its main campus at 1466 Manor Road.

The JCC is dedicated to encouraging harmony throughout the community by providing facilities and programs that are open to all, regardless of race, religion, creed, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or political affiliation. While open to people of all faiths, Jewish values inform every program — from family celebrations of Chanukah, Purim, Passover, and Sukkot to Hillel of Staten Island, JCC Young Leaders, and high school Jewish culture clubs led by the JCC’s Israeli shlicha.

Programming spans early childhood education, fitness and sports, the JCC Day Camp, Sunrise Day Camp (the world’s first full-summer day camp for children with cancer and their siblings), adult education, family programming, and the Esther Grushkin Center for Arts + Culture, which offers performances, classes, and cultural events. The JCC also runs a robust slate of social services, including a Kosher Food Pantry, Career Connections (CRED), health insurance and benefits assistance, and an extensive Department for People with Disabilities offering year-round Day Habilitation Without Walls programming.

Led by CEO Orit Lender, the Bernikow JCC is a member of the JCC Association of North America and a cornerstone institution of Jewish life on Staten Island.