During the 1960’s the Zoroastrians of the greater New York area, met informally on major celebratory days, at Columbia University’s International House. The number of Zarathushtis increased continuously, and in the 1970’s a need was felt to form a formal association.
In 1977, as a result of a $100,000 donation from Arbab Rustam Guiv as seed money a property was purchased in New Rochelle, NY. This gem of a modified residential property served the community’s needs for over 20 years.
The increasing Zarathusti population resulted in a new effort to locate a bigger property with more land and building space for Sunday school and social, religious events. An intensive search resulted in locating a Jewish Cultural Center in Pomona, NY which was then acquired in 2001 at a cost of $1,200,000, with the help of individual community member donations. The 3.32 acre property is perfect with sufficient land but the building facilities are adequate at best and in need of major capital repairs.
The community now is well established with many excelling in their respective professions. The time is now ripe to replace the old undersized building, which is also in need of major repairs, with a new larger Community Center which will also house a Prayer Hall. The building has been designed from scratch to meet the community’s needs as identified by DMZT/IZAIZAGNY and provide the right ambiance.
The building will be set back with sufficient parking, plenty of greenery and space for outdoor activity. The building will be used for Sunday school activity which is an important and vibrant activity conducted for our youngsters by both ZAGNY and TZA. The main hall will host our major Social and Religious events and perhaps even a joint ZAGNY/IZA event for Navroz.
The facilities would also become the focus of educational lectures and community events such as weddings, anniversaries, birthdays etc. The focal point would be the prayer hall which will designed and decorated with traditional ambiance. It will be a place we can proudly build for the next generation.