Remember The Catskills? Why It Fell Off The Map, And Why It's Time To Go Back

It was once the beating heart of the Jewish-American New Yorkers escaping the summer heat in New York. There were around 500 resorts in the area in its heyday, with vacationers spoiling themselves with entertaining midnight shows, bottomless buffets, and lakeside dances. The Borscht Belt in the Catskills was once a bustling resort region, but now it's almost completely abandoned ; the dazzling neon signs have faded, the grand ballrooms have fallen into silence, and the once vibrant entertainment stages for stand-up comedy now feel eerie.

Tucked away in the southern foothills of the Catskill Mountains of the Appalachians, the Catskills region or the Borscht Belt, was the refuge of the many Jewish-American New Yorkers at the turn of the 20th century, when bungalow colonies, hotels, summer