about this NEIGHBORHOOD

The Dutch first settled the area that is now Crown Heights in the 1600ls. At that time, the area was known mostly for agriculture. Originally known as Crow Hill or Green Mountains due to its location atop a series of green hills, Crown Heights became more urban over the course of the 19th century as mansions and limestone row houses were constructed.

Crown Heights, located in Central Brooklyn, is a neighborhood rich in diversity and ripe with cultural fusion. Following the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation, African-Americans formed the free black communities of Weeksville and Carrville. These were two of the earliest communities of their kind and have long since been incorporated into neighboring Bedford Stuyvesant.

In the early 20th century, the neighborhood saw its first waves of Caribbean immigrants who joined the mixed population of Protestants, Catholics, and Jews that were already calling Crown Heights home. In the 1940s, Lubavitch Hasidim began to move into Crown Heights and they remain a significant community in Crown Heights today. Crown Heights is considered to be the largest West Indian neighborhood in New York City.

Today, Crown Heights is quite the culinary experience, boasting rows of West Indian and Jewish bakeries, food shops, and restaurants. These eateries serve up goat curry, jerk chicken, doubles, red snapper and even Israeli falafel.� Dine at the famous Crow Hill Bistro or Alanls Bakery for a taste of Crown Heights delicious cooking or quench your thirst at Punch Line, a Jamaican owned fresh juice spot.�

On Labor Day, the West Indian Day Parade originates in Crown Heights and makes its way down Eastern Parkway. Crown Heights is also the home of several, thriving community organizations, who come together to sponsor a Unity Day that draws about 10,000 people to hear motivational speakers and spread the message of unity. Adding to the list of greats that originate in Crown Heights is the pioneer Brooklyn Childrenls Museum, which is the very first museum worldwide that is dedicated to children. Also worth mentioning is the Medgar Evers College, the youngest of the four-year degree granting CUNY schools and also a Historically Black College.

Numerous pop culture icons and dignitaries are natives or have once lived in Crown Heights include Clive Davis, Chris Rock, Nas, Matisyahu, Beverly Sills, Mighty Sparrow, Stephanie Mills, Menachem Mendel Schneerson (Hasidic Rabbi known as the Rebbe of Chabad-Lubavitch), Noel Pointer, Ratatat, Jason C. M. Atkins, and even the first African American woman to ever receive a medical degree in New York, Dr. Susan Mckinney Steward!