[nygirl1]

North and east of Leffert Gardens is the neighborhood of Crown Heights


Crown Heights- Crown Heights is a large residential neighborhood in central Brooklyn. The region is defined by its large and varied housing stock…a row house jungle. The neighborhood developed as an upscale bedroom community for middle-upper classes and in some cases the top of Brooklyn high society. A garden-like community developed along Eastern Parkway and quickly became a popular commuter town. West Indians like our Jamaican community and the Hatian-Creole, Guyanese, Trinidadian and Barbadians are not new to this area and have been settling the dense urban node since the roaring 20’s. Jews began to move into the community post world war 2 dividing the neighborhood by choice. There had been, for many years horrible tension between the sections African American and Hasidic communities, most notably stemming from a 1990’s incident involving a Hasidic rabbi striking a Guyanese father of two with his truck which sparked riots in the Dinkins, early Guiliani years. Nestled up next to the iconic Prospect Park the neighborhood has undergone what some call a renaissance in recent years. The racial tension, which for years had been a black eye on the neighborhood has since simmered though hasn’t entirely healed.