Inside New York’s abandoned Borscht Belt hotels

IT’S hard to picture now, but these crumbling, abandoned hotels once epitomised glamour. Today, they are eerie yet intriguing shells.

IT’S hard to picture now, but the ruined resorts in Marisa Scheinfeld’s haunting photos once epitomised glamour for East Coast middle-class families.

Known as the Borscht Belt, these upstate New York hotels drew mostly Jewish guests who were often unwelcome at other hotels, the New York Post reports.

At its height in the 1960s, the Borscht Belt sparkled: There was the Jerry Lewis Theater Club at Brown’s, over-the-top meals at Grossinger’s, a swanky ski chalet at the Nevele. Anyone who’s seen Dirty Dancing has had a glimpse of Borscht Belt buzz.

Today, the sites are eerie shells. But they offer their own kind of beauty — and new forms of life.

It’s a haunting sight. Picture: Marisa Scheinfeld

“While the ruins can seem like tragic examples of the passing of an era, they’re also very much alive,” local and photographer Marisa Scheinfeld says.

A bed that has remained empty for years. Picture: Marisa Scheinfeld

“Devoid of their original intentions — as hotels for Jewish Americans from the East Coast — the hotels have in many ways been repurposed, and are being used as respites for animals or for nature.

In ruins. Picture: Marisa Scheinfeld

“Abandoned by people, they’re still vital active forces being used in unexpected ways.”

But still beautiful. Picture: Marisa Scheinfeld

A new exhibition of Scheinfeld’s huge photos — along with a trove of original souvenirs and objects from Borscht Belt hotels — continues at New York’s Yeshiva University Museum through April 12, 2015.

This article originally appeared on Yahoo Travel.

The area is overgrown. Picture: Marisa Scheinfeld