M.A. Kleen

Also known as the Stevensville Hotel, Swan Lake Resort sits at 1626 Briscoe Road in Swan Lake, south of Liberty, New York. From the 1920s to the 1970s, New York City Jews flocked to Catskill resorts in the summer months to escape the stifling heat of the city. There were once over 500 resorts and hotels in the area, known as the “Borscht Belt“.

With increasing religious tolerance and the advent of widespread commercial airliners, many families chose to vacation elsewhere and dozens of these establishments now lay abandoned. An Orthodox Jewish group purchased this particular hotel in 2015, but it remains unused.