NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — On the 30 year anniversary of the race riots in Crown Heights, a neighborhood festival aims to continue three decades of efforts to heal the divide.
The seventh annual One Crown Heights Neighborhood Festival ran from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday and featured live music, dance performances, games and food at Brower Park.
The festival aims to increase cultural exchange between the Black and Jewish communities that both reside in Crown Heights.
The Brooklyn Children’s Museum, which abuts the park, opened its doors for free for the entire day in honor of the festival.
Aug. 19 to 21 marked the 30 year anniversary of the Crown Heights race riots which plagued the neighborhood in 1991.
The riots started after an orthodox Jew accidentally killed a seven-year-old Black boy when he ran a red light while following the motorcade of Chabad Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
Black youths attacked Jews and Jewish businesses, fatally injuring an Orthodox Jewish student from Australia.
Just days after the riots, then-Borough President Howard Golden brought Jewish and Black leaders together in an attempt to open a dialogue between the two communities.
The leaders formed the Crown Heights Coalition, an outreach program and forum for Black and Jewish community members to air grievances and work out issues peacefully.
While the coalition is no longer active, community members and leaders hold the festival every year in the spirit of inter-group fraternity and peaceful coexistence.
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