Crown Heights Brooklyn

Early history

Although no physical evidence remains in the Crown Heights area, large portions of present-day Brooklyn and Long Island were once occupied by the Lenape Native Americans. The Lenape lived in communities of bark- or grass-covered wigwams. In their larger settlements, typically located on high ground near fresh water and occupied during the fall, winter, and spring, they engaged in fishing, harvesting shellfish, trapping animals, gathering wild fruits and vegetables, and cultivating crops such as corn, tobacco, and beans.

The first recorded contact between the indigenous people of the New York City region and Europeans was with the Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524. Serving France, he anchored at the approximate location of today’s Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and was visited by a canoe party of Lenape. The next recorded contact was in 1609 when Henry Hudson arrived in New York Harbor aboard the Dutch East India Company ship, the Halve Maen (Half Moon), commissioned by the Dutch Republic.

19th century

In the 19th century, the area was rural. At that time, it housed the Crow Hill penitentiary and various orphanages. In 1884, Alexander Jefferson was executed after being convicted of the Crow Hill Murders. His prolonged hanging and subsequent appeals to overturn his death sentence highlighted the significant poverty in the area.

Early and mid-20th century

Crown Heights began as a fashionable residential neighborhood, serving as a place for secondary homes for Manhattan’s growing bourgeois class. The area benefited from having rapid transit via the IRT Eastern Parkway Line (2, 3, 4, and 5 trains) in a subway configuration, unlike many other Brooklyn neighborhoods that had elevated lines. The conversion to a commuter town included demolishing the 19th-century Kings County Penitentiary at Carroll Street and Nostrand Avenue.

Starting in the early 1900s, many upper-class residences, including characteristic brownstone buildings, were constructed along Eastern Parkway. Away from the parkway, a mix of lower middle-class residences was developed, with this growth peaking in the 1920s. Before World War II, Crown Heights was among New York City’s premier neighborhoods, featuring tree-lined streets, numerous cultural institutions and parks, and a variety of fraternal, social, and community organizations.

Late 20th century

The 1960s and 1970s were marked by turbulent race relations in Crown Heights. Increasing poverty in the city led to racial conflict in several neighborhoods, including Crown Heights, known for its racially and culturally diverse population. At the request of their leader, the Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the neighborhood’s predominantly white and relatively large population of Lubavitch Hasidim remained in the community as other white residents left.

In 1964, the Labor Day Carnival celebrating Caribbean culture was moved to Crown Heights after its license to operate in Harlem was revoked. The carnival, held on the first Monday in September, now attracts between one and three million people.

During the Lyndon B. Johnson administration, Crown Heights was declared a primary poverty area due to high unemployment, high juvenile and adult crime rates, poor nutrition from lack of family income, a relative absence of job skills and readiness, and a high concentration of elderly residents. The neighborhood experienced several violent outbreaks in the late 20th century, including during the 1977 New York City blackout, when more than 75 area stores were robbed, and thieves used cars to pull up roll-down curtains in front of stores.

Early 21st century

In the 2010s, Crown Heights experienced rapid gentrification, leading to the displacement of long-time residents due to increasing rents. Building management firms, such as BCB Realty, which are affiliated with companies buying up buildings in the neighborhood, aimed to remove long-term residents by buying them out or pressuring them to move by “failing to adequately maintain apartments,” according to a housing activist. Other tactics included relocating residents from their apartments under the pretext of renovation and then locking them out, as employed by another realtor, ZT Realty. In 2017, real estate developer Isaac Hager faced opposition from activists when he proposed building a 565-unit apartment complex in Crown Heights; in April 2019, a judge issued a restraining order against the project.

The 2010 opening of Basil Pizza & Wine Bar sparked the emergence of upscale, kosher, foodie restaurants in Crown Heights, turning the area into what The Jewish Week described as “an eating destination.”

In November 2013, a series of attacks on Jewish residents were suspected to be part of “knockout games.” Media attention to these attacks increased following the incidents in Crown Heights. In response, the Jewish community hosted an event for African-American teens to promote greater understanding of Jewish beliefs. This event, held at the Jewish Children’s Museum, was coordinated by local Jewish organizations, public schools, and the NYPD’s 71st and 77th precincts.