Love Thy Neighbor: Four Days in Crown Heights That Changed New York

Thirty years ago, in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights, a car accident set off four days of unrest. Two people died. Dozens were injured. Hundreds were arrested. In this Pineapple Street Studios series, journalist Collier Meyerson explores what came to be known as the “Crown Heights Riot.” It’s a story about immigration, New York City’s first Black mayor, the rise of Rudy Giuliani, and the Lubavitch Jewish and Caribbean-American communities sitting at the center of it all. To Meyerson, the Crown Heights Riot can help us unlock and understand so many of our modern dilemmas: from police violence and racism to the persistence of antisemitism.  Starting February 15, you can listen to new episodes weekly on all platforms. Or you can binge the whole show exclusively on the Audacy app. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s August 2020 in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights. Collier Meyerson is at a retirement party for an NYPD officer. Listening to speeches, chatting with guests, watching politicians hobnob with religious leaders, everything seems…all good. But as Meyerson steps back onto the streets of the neighborhood, just weeks after thousands mobilized to protest that Black lives matter, she’s reminded of what happened here almost thirty years before. And she can’t help but wonder how we got here. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How did Chabad-Lubavitchers and Caribbeans end up buying homes and settling in Crown Heights? Collier Meyerson goes back to the first half of the 20th century to understand how these two groups, from such different places, changed New York City, how New York City changed them, and how the tensions between them first began. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As more and more white people leave New York City for the suburbs, the Chabad-Lubavitchers and Caribbean-Americans remain in Crown Heights. Everyone is talking about violent crime. Private citizens patrol the streets in groups. New York City elects its first Black mayor, David Dinkins. And the neighborhood begins to reach its boiling point. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s a warm evening in August 1991. Two Guyanese children are playing on the sidewalk when a car in the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s motorcade crashes into the two children. The moment ignites a series of events that will change not just Crown Heights, but New York City and policing throughout America, forever. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After four days of unrest, the energy in Crown Heights seems to have calmed. Still, residents are eager to hold someone responsible for the deaths of Gavin Cato and Yankel Rosenbaum. In comes Rudolph Giuliani and the violent policing tactics Americans are far too familiar with today.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices