Crown Heights Riot

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The Crown Heights Riot was a three-day riot in the Crown Heights neighborhood of New York City starting on August 19, 1991. The causes of the riots, motivation of the rioters, and overall meaning of the incident are debated to this day. Many in the Jewish community view the riot as a purely anti-Semitic outburst, even terming it the Crown Heights pogrom (indeed, some called it a "pogrom" while it was still occurring) ^[1]. (There was also anti-police activity during the riot; some blacks at the time apparently saw the riot as a chance to strike back against white rule, not merely Hasidim or Jews; this included, especially, the police. ^[2]) While the riot was certainly a product of many causes, there were also a number of characteristics of the riot that could be interpreted as anti-Jewish violence, or as anti-police violence. The differing accounts of what happened in Crown Heights during the summer of 1991 may never be reconciled.

Contents 1 Causes of the riot 2 Scope of the riot 3 Fallout from the riot 4 Fictional portrayals in film and on television 5 See also 6 Notes 7 External links

[edit] Causes of the riot

The events that ignited the Crown Heights riots, and its record in the history books, are mired in political and racially-charged assertions and accusations. Tensions were in the neighborhood beforehand, on both sides: some Jews were afraid to go into black parts of the neighborhood because of fear of getting mugged or shot; some blacks saw Jews as "taking over" Crown Heights and receiving preferential treatment from police and in public housing allocation^[3]. There had also been earlier incidents between blacks and Hasidim: in the summer of 1986, blacks had allegedly beaten a Hasidic man to death in a subway station; in April 1987, some 400 blacks engaged in a protest march against what they considered to be Hasidic surveillance harassment; in March 1989, several Hasidic Jewish people reportedly crowded around and beat a young African-American, Chris Gilyard, who was 16 years old^[4], who they suspected of slashing a Hasidic man, Shalom Rabkim, and his mother, Shoshana Rabkim, during a robbery^[5] (a rabbi, Rabbi Israel Shemtov, and his son, were both arrested on charges that they had been in that crowd, and Shemtov was also accused of other violations against blacks^[6], and a grand jury decided not to indict that rabbi or his son; Shemtov claimed that he was picked out for harassment on account of his being in a volunteer anti-crime squad that made citizen's arrests.^[7]); there had been earlier incidents in the 1970s in Crown Heights.^[8][9][10] New York City in the late 1980s and early 1990s was suffering from a high rate of violent crime; non-Jewish people in the city also used protective measures and security systems^[11], and reports of shootings were common in the press. Those influences — distrust between blacks and Jews in Crown Heights, distrust of police among blacks, fear of crime in New York City — contributed to growing tensions in the Crown Heights area in 1991.

Returning from a cemetery visit to the grave of a leader of the Jewish community, Yosef Lifsh, driving east on President Street in a car owned by Yehuda Zirkland that was part of the procession of Rebbe Menachem Schneerson, which was led by police^[12], either ran a red light or passed through the intersection lawfully. This led to a traffic accident with a car headed north on Utica Avenue. As part of the crash, Lifsh's vehicle veered into the sidewalk, striking a seven-year-old Guyanese boy named Gavin Cato and also seriously injuring his cousin Angela, also seven years of age. Eyewitnesses have given various reports of the car's speed, from 25 miles per hour to 65. Some witnesses claimed that the vehicle sped through the red light and that the driver smelled of alcohol. Lifsh, who fled to Israel before charges could be filed, was later found not to have been issued an American driver's license. What is not denied is the fact that as the car crossed the intersection, it was hit by another car, causing it to veer out of control and run over Gavin. A private Hasidic ambulance from the Hatzolah Ambulance Corps came to the scene and removed the Hasidic driver on the orders of a police officer who also ordered this ambulance to leave the area without considering the injured boy, since a city ambulance had been called for, the officers also believed there was an immediate threat to the safety of the volunteers, as the rioting had already begun. The rioters however felt this order to be "racially" motivated. The city ambulance arrived soon after to treat Gavin, who died of his injuries at a nearby hospital. The incident sparked a riot that was ultimately fueled by long-standing underlying tensions between black and Jewish residents of the neighborhood.

[edit] Scope of the riot

Over the next four days numerous African Americans - many of them from outside the Crown Heights neighbourhood - rioted, fueled by a belief that the treatment of the car accident victims was unequal. Fires were set, a police car overturned^[13], a van set alight^[14], and shops were looted as the riot grew out of control. Hasidic Jews and blacks threw bottles and rocks at each other on the second night of the riot ^[15]; however, the violence during the riot appears to have been committed largely by young black men against Jews and police. ^[16] A visiting rabbinical student from Australia by the name of Yankel Rosenbaum, 29 years old, was killed during the rioting. Before dying, Rosenbaum was able to identify 16-year-old Lemrick Nelson, Jr. as his assailant. Nelson was charged with the killing, but acquitted. Claims that he admitted to having stabbed Rosenbaum were dismissed by the jury. Even though Nelson was acquitted of murder by a state court, after protests by the Lubavitch community and others, Nelson was charged in federal court with violating Rosenbaum's civil rights and received a prison sentence of 19.5 years. In 2002, he was granted a new trial, at which he admitted he stabbed Rosenbaum, but his attorneys argued that the stabbing wasn't a hate crime triggered by Rosenbaum's religion, but merely the consequence of Nelson being drunk. One other man, Charles Price, 44, was charged with inciting a mob, including Nelson, to "get Jews". Price was charged in federal court one day before the expiration of the statute of limitations for that crime. Nelson was released to a halfway house on June 5, 2004.

Young African Americans reportedly walked around in front of 770 Eastern Parkway, the Lubavitcher headquarters, shouting "Heil Hitler!" and throwing rocks, prompting the police to erect barricades in front of "770".^[17] Police barricades also walled off the intersection of Utica Av. and President St., where the accident occurred; also, at least 110 arrests (an earlier police report said 180 arrests) were made during the riots, including seven whites (the earlier report claimed 44 Hasidic men had been arrested); only seven of the people arrested were women^[18][19].

[edit] Fallout from the riot

Al Sharpton marched through Crown Heights and in front of "770", shortly after the riot, with about 400 noisy protesters (who chanted "Whose streets? Our streets!" and "No justice, no peace!"), in spite of Mayor David Dinkins' attempts to keep the march from happening. ^[20]

Mayor David Dinkins was criticized for his poor handling of the riot.

In the report commissioned by Governor Cuomo, attorney Righard Girgenti demonstrated that although Dinkins was well informed about the situation, he refused to take action. Eighty Jews and a hundred police were injured. Still the mayor chose, in classic John Lindsay style, to let the mob "vent."
...
The rioting came to an end after three days only when deputy police Commissioner Ray Kelly took it upon himself to end it. ^[21]

The turmoil proved to be a key issue in the next New York City mayoral election, contested in 1993 as a rematch between incumbent David Dinkins and Rudolph Giuliani, whom Dinkins had narrowly defeated four years earlier. On June 16, 1993, a rally was held outside City Hall in downtown Manhattan. The primary focus was to decry, in general, out-of-control criminal violence and to express continued bitterness over the events in Crown Heights. The Dinkins administration was viewed by the rally's attendees as being indifferent towards towards the crime problem. Several speakers at the rally, including mayoral candidate Rudolph Giuliani and a Brooklyn-based Caribbean-American community activist Roy Innis, believed the Crown Heights riot to be a pogrom. Giuliani won the election, and subsequent polls showed that a significant shift in the Jewish vote from 1989 was a contributing factor for his victory.

[edit] Fictional portrayals in film and on television

A 2004 television movie, Crown Heights, was made about the aftermath of the riot, starring Howie Mandel.

Two episodes of Law & Order, one during season two and another during season four, were based on the riots.

Anna Deveare Smith wrote a play called Fires in the Mirror, depicting 29 real interviews with real people involved in the controversy.

[edit] See also

• Crown Heights
• Pogrom

[edit] Notes

References to the NY Times are to the first pages of articles that often flow over to other pages. Some material may be on the later pages of the articles.

1. ^ Clashes Persist in Crown Heights for 3d Night in Row By JOHN KIFNERBy JOHN KIFNER New York Times (1857-Current file); Aug 22, 1991; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2003) pg. B1
2. ^ For Many Young Blacks, Alienation and a Growing Despair Turn Into Rage New York Times (1857-Current file); Aug 25, 1991; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2003)pg. 36
3. ^ The Bitterness Flows in 2 Directions By FELICIA R. LEE with ARI L. GOLDMAN New York Times (1857-Current file); Aug 23, 1991; ProQuestHistorical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2003) pg. B1
4. ^ Crowd in Brooklyn, Angered at Slashing, Beats a 16-Year-Old By LISA W. FODERARO New York Times (1857-Current file); Mar 5, 1989; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2003) pg. 42
5. ^ Crowd in Brooklyn, Angered at Slashing, Beats a 16-Year-Old By LISA W. FODERARO New York Times (1857-Current file); Mar 5, 1989; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2003) pg. 42
6. ^ Rabbi and Son Held in Beating Of Black Man By DAVID E. PITT New York Times (1857-Current file); Mar 30, 1989; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2003)pg. B3
7. ^ Jury Refuses to Indict Rabbi in Beating By ARI L. GOLDMAN New York Times (1857-Current file); Apr 13, 1989; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2003)pg. B3
8. ^ Fatal Crash Starts Melee With Police In Brooklyn By JOHN T. McQUISTON New York Times (1857-Current file); Aug 20, 1991; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2003) pg. B1; note: no reference to any beating in the summer of 1986 has been found in the 1986 New York Times.
9. ^ Racial Tensions Persist in Crown Heights By LYDIA CHAVEZ New York Times (1857-Current file); Apr 10, 1987; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2003) pg. B1
10. ^ Black Demonstrators March Through Hasidic Area By HOWARD W. FRENCH New York Times (1857-Current file); Apr 12, 1987; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2003) pg. 43
11. ^ Ministers in Poor Areas Arming Against Crime By STEPHANIE STROM New York Times (1857-Current file); Apr 23, 1990; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2003) pg. B1
12. ^ Hasid Dies in Stabbing; Black Protests Flare 2d Night in a Row By JOHN KIFNER New York Times (1857-Current file); Aug 21, 1991; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2003) pg. B1
13. ^ Three Nights, Three Moods In the Streets New York Times (1857-Current file); Aug 25, 1991; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2003) pg. 37
14. ^ Three Nights, Three Moods In the Streets New York Times (1857-Current file); Aug 25, 1991; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2003) pg. 37
15. ^ Hasid Dies in Stabbing; Black Protests Flare 2d Night in a Row By JOHN KIFNER New York Times (1857-Current file); Aug 21, 1991; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2003)pg. B1
16. ^ Three Nights, Three Moods In the Streets New York Times (1857-Current file); Aug 25, 1991; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2003) pg. 37
17. ^ Police Brace For Protest In Brooklyn By JOHN KIFNER New York Times (1857-Current file); Aug 24, 1991; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2003) pg. 27
18. ^ Police Brace For Protest In Brooklyn By JOHN KIFNER New York Times (1857-Current file); Aug 24, 1991; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2003) pg. 27
19. ^ Official Tallies of Arrests Differ New York Times (1857-Current file); Aug 25, 1991; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2003) pg. 36
20. ^ Blacks March by Hasidim Through a Corridor of Blue. By JOHN KIFNER New York Times (1857-Current file); Aug 25, 1991; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2003) pg. 36
21. ^ Siegel, Fred The Prince of the City (San Francisco, Encounter Books, 2005) pp. 81-2

[edit] External links

• Crown Heights. Blacks, Jews and the 1991 Brooklyn Riot
• Race and Religion among the Chosen Peoples of Crown Heights, by Henry Goldschmidt (Rutgers University Press, 2006)
• Harvard Research Publication on the Crown Heights Riot and its background
• The Crown Heights Riot and Its Aftermath. Article
• Three Days of Riots Forgotten: Political Will in Short Supply
• Crown Heights Riot Suspect Sentenced
• In Crown Heights, a Decade of Healing After Riots, but Scars Remain
• http://www.dartmouth.edu/~upne/1-58465-561-5.html