SERVING THE JEWISH COMMUNITY FOR 6 GENERATIONS - 150 YEARS
SERVING THE JEWISH COMMUNITY FOR 6 GENERATIONS - 150 YEARS
1625 Coney Island Ave
(Corner Ave M)
Brooklyn, New York 11230
Let our family be there in your time of need.
Owned and Operated by Stanley & Peter Nieberg
About Us
For six generations now — through civil wars and world wars, recessions and depressions — the Nieberg family has been here to help and comfort other families during their times of loss. As the first Jewish funeral home in New York City, and likely one of the first in the United States, the history of our family business parallels the history of this nation and its people.
Over 150 years ago, Benjamin Rosenthal, our great-grandfather and an immigrant from Eastern Europe, operated a horse-drawn, ice transport business on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Because ice was then the only way to preserve the body of a deceased and horse-drawn wagons the only means to transport them, Benjamin’s ice business was ideally suited for the funeral business. So on many occasions families hired Benjamin to transport a deceased to local cemeteries. As the losses from the United States’ Civil War mounted and families throughout New York sought to honor their beloved family members with funerals, Benjamin eventually converted his trade fulltime to the funeral business.
From the very start, and like most businesses at that time, Benjamin’s funeral business was a family operation. Isaac, one of Benjamin’s seven children, worked very closely with his father and gradually took on full responsibility for the business. With Benjamin’s passing in 1880, Isaac had already established a well-deserved reputation in the community for his personal and professional qualities. Because funeral homes then did not exist as they do now, funeral services and the preparation of the deceased primarily occurred within a family’s home. Of course this meant that Isaac spent many of his days working very closely with the families that hired him.
Like his father before him, Isaac was very committed to family and encouraged his children, all daughters, to work in the family business. Of his daughters, Lillian was the most involved. When Lillian became engaged, her fiancé, Harry Nieberg, quickly became an integral part of the business as well. After Lillian and Harry were married, Isaac, who became ill, left full responsibility of his business to Harry.
Harry quickly brought the business into the 20th century by pioneering the use of motorized hearses. As it did in most areas of life, the motor vehicle quickly replaced horses and at one point Harry owned one of the largest fleets of motorized hearses in the country. Our fleet of vehicles was not only used in our business but was depended upon by funeral homes throughout New York. Though Harry enlarged and developed his operations in Manhattan, Harry eventually expanded his business east to Brooklyn.
Almost 70 years ago, Harry opened Nieberg’s Midwood Funeral Home in the Midwood section of Brooklyn. This building remains today and has become our family’s single location. And unlike many other funeral businesses in the area, ours has remained an independent family-owned business from the very beginning.
Today, Harry’s grandsons, Stanley and Peter, continue the traditions started many years ago by their great-great grandfather. The Nieberg family remains committed to serving all members of our community whether new immigrants as our ancestors once were or those who, like us, have lived in New York for generations. Even in these uncertain times, just as our founders showed their faith in the continued development of this city by continuously expanding and innovating, we want to continue this tradition. As New York has changed, so have we. In the coming months, we will be completely renovating the Midwood Chapel to reflect our commitment to this community.
We and our staff speak English, Hebrew, and Russian and hope that we can be of service to you and your family in your time of need.
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