What Happened to “The Borscht Belt” ? AKA “The Jewish Alps” in the Catskill Mountains of Ulster and Sullivan County’s New York
“The Borscht Belt” in Sullivan and Ulster County’s in upstate New York was at the turn of the 20th century the birth of the summer playground destination for vacationing Jews to escape the heat of the city when air conditioning did not exist till 50 years later. It catered primarily to poor and middle class mainly immigrant Jews who were not welcome in many hotels who advertised no Jews or Hebrews allowed. So they started their own vacation industry.
The era of "The Borscht Belt" evolved in the late 1800’s, early 1900’s ending around the late 1990’s when the industry collapsed due to cultural and economic changes. That ended its’ premier place in vacation history for the mainly Jewish populations and in the end people from all over the world as a leading destination.
In the beginn...
