A stroll through Hamilton-Metz Park in Brooklyn on a Friday afternoon proved that the media-dramatized tensions in Crown Heights is only half of the truth. Young Black and Hasidic children can be seen at the park playing together, laughing and having a good time with no recollection that almost 20 years ago they would have been at odds with each other.
This past Tuesday marked the 17th anniversary of one of New York City’s most horrific riots in recent history, and while Crown Heights is still seeing some tension, relations continue to improve. In 2008, so far, headlines have raised flags signaling the brewing of another uprising similar to the one in 1991. But while some residents in the area think that Crown Heights might see another riot, others feel the community has come a long way.
On August 19, 1991, Crown Heights went through a three-day riot after a 7-year-old Guyanese boy, Gavin Cato, was accidentally struck and killed by a car in a motorcade following the funeral for a Hasidic rabbi. Community members became outraged because a Hatzolah ambulance driver was not willing to help a non Jew. Instead, the medic helped the driver of the car, Yosef Lifsh, leaving Cato to die and his cousin Angela seriously injured. Black residents became angered, believing the Lifsh rescue was racially motivated.
Adding fuel to the fire was that the city was accused of giving better treatment to Jews in Crown Heights. Blacks also were concerned about Jews buying up property in the area. The Jewish community at the time alleged anti-Semitism during the riot. As a result of rioting, one person, 29-year-old Yankel Rosenbaum, was beaten and stabbed to death. When the dust settled, 190 people were injured and 129 people were arrested. The riot caused an estimated $1 million in damage. Lemrick Nelson, then 16, was later arrested and convicted in federal court for the stabbing of Rosenbaum. Lifsh was not indicted by a grand jury. The jury found no cause because Lifsh simply lost control of his car. Lifsh moved to Israel to be with his family after receiving death threats.
Earlier this year there have been several incidents involving Blacks and Jews. In May, two Black teens allegedly robbed a Jewish teen and a group of Hasidic men allegedly attacked a Black teen in the neighborhood. There has been no arrest in the latter case, even though the alleged perpetrator was identified early on. An imprint that has forever been left on Crown Heights, few can forget those three days when a mixture of apertures and alleged bias treatment took place. “Justice is for everyone, not one person,” said 31-year Crown Heights resident and Trinidad immigrant Carl Thomas. Like some Crown Heights residents, he remembers the riots and watching it play out in the media from his home on Lincoln Place.
“I just remember being so sad because a family lost their child and how they saved that Jewish guy. I tried my best to separate myself from the violence as best I could.”
Thomas, like many at the time, stayed home as the riot wreaked havoc on the community. Lawrence Lovell lived through the riots and said that after leaving home, things are better. But he came back home recently, after being away for a while, to see a massive amount of joblessness in Crown Heights; he said that another riot could happen. His family owned a store at the time and was affected by the violence.
“Like everyone else, I just stayed in the house, and I had a pit bull, so I wasn’t scared. It’s been a hard summer here with the economy and all. There are no jobs, so something like that could happen again,” he said.
Several attempts have been made since then to bring Blacks and Jews together. In January of this year the 40-member Black-Jewish Coalition formed in hopes of calming tensions in Crown Heights. The coalition consists of elected officials across the city. One key proponent in the ongoing unity between Blacks and Jews in the neighborhood is Richard Green, 50, who founded the Crown Heights Youth Collective. On Tuesday’s anniversary of the Crown Heights riot, Green met with the police department to improve neighborhood relations.
“I think it’s gotten better,” he said. “We can never say we reached nirvana, but we’ve been able to talk to each other more. It’s been 6,209 days since the riots, and the person who was mayor just turned 80. We’ve had a lot of major things happen since 1991. We learned a lesson, and we would not let something like that happen again.”
Green added that he recently attended a meeting with Jewish rabbis and Black clergy and it was progressive in that everyone agreed to make room for improvements. Green continues with his youth program, Project Care, which brings together Black and Jewish youth in the school system. And a new commander at the 71st Precinct in Crown Heights has pushed an effort to establish a Jewish and Black neighborhood patrol.
