Crown Heights

From Decoding New York

Dreidel statue in front of the Jewish Children's Museum. Photo by Yuliya B.

Crown Heights, a neighborhood whose backbone is Eastern Parkway, is very unique in its cultural geography. It is bounded by Washington Avenue on the west, Atlantic Avenue on the North, Ralph Avenue on the east, Clarkson Avenue on the south. Neighborhoods that encompass Crown Heights include, Prospect Height on the west, Prospect Lefferts Gardens on the southwest, Wingat and Rugby to the South, Brownsiville on the east and Bedford-Stuyvesant to the north.

Here one will find two very distinctgroups: the Hasidic Jewish community and the Afro-Caribbean populations, encompassing representation from various countries such as Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. Among the Jewish community there is also a lot of variety in terms of the Eastern European countries that people come from but they are tied together by the Jewish heritage and culture.

Some may think that two such different groups couldn’t live side by side and for some time that was true but now just by walking down a single street one can bear witness to the fact that businesses catering to the Caribbean population and to the Jewish population stand and prosper side by side. For people of Caribbean and West Indian descent there are businesses that specialize in culture specific services such as the hair salon that does hair braiding, a hairstyle that is often worn by both women and men of the Afro-Caribbean culture. In addition to hair salons, many ethnic eateries have also sprang up and proudly display their cultural affiliation through large headlines and flag colors. For the Jewish population the ethnic eateries provide a necessary service, which is the presence of Kosher foods. Without the presence of these goods in the neighborhood, the Jewish people living here would have to look elsewhere to find things such as groceries and just regular fast food that the rest of us take for granted. Thus these businesses thrive on the fact that they are a necessity in their community.

The presence of these groups in such close vicinity to each other has led to the creation of a history unique to this neighborhood and its people. But beyond the cultural differences, it seems that they all share the same human quality as many immigrants to this country and that is the desire to lead well established lives and to make good lives for their children. In the various pages of this website you will find in-depth discussions about the history of Crown Heights and its people as well as the neighborhood's businesses and cultural identity.

Map of Crown Heights