Crown Heights is a dynamic neighborhood made up of incredible individuals. Its history, rooted in the Lanape culture, is a story not often fully told. European settlement in the area was first documented in 1662 and was authorized by Governor Pieter Stuyvesant. He gave what he called “a parcel of free (unoccupied) woodland” to many of the early settlers. This is disheartening because the Lanape were already there. Over the years, this has been a recurring theme in the Crown Heights neighborhood -- the residents are often regarded the same way Stuyvesant regarded the Lanape -- nonexistent. It's time to recognize every member of Crown Heights, and it's also time to declare Crown Heights as a global city that shares the same challenges and triumphs of so many cities around the world. The neighborhood has come a long way since Stuyvesant and has even survived some pretty tough times (like the riots of the early 1990's). Nonetheless, it has a long way to go. It's evident, however, that the community is working together to bridge the gap between it's two identities -- the one above Eastern Parkway that's slowly gentrifying the area and the one below Eastern Parkway that is surviving in a much different way. Crown Heights is working together to create an identity that's all inclusive. The community remembers the Lanape's bark covered wigwams of the past, it enjoys the classic rowhouses filled with Jewish and Caribbean culture in the present, and it can't help but ponder how an infusion of people and stories -- a renaissance of sorts -- will define Crown Heights' future.
Organizing team
