Sloatsburg rest stop offers Jewish men place to pray

On Thursday nights during the summer, thousands of Orthodox Jewish men transform an ordinary Thruway rest stop into a sacred space.

The travelers, who hail from Brooklyn, Staten Island and northern New Jersey, look for a place to pray as they make their way upstate to meet their families.

For nearly two decades, the New York State Thruway Authority has provided a place for religious Jews — as well as those of other faiths — to worship at the Sloatsburg travel plaza along the northbound Thruway, past Exit 15A, due to public safety concerns.