Brooklyn, NY – Crown Heights Jews Snubbed At Upcoming Meeting Meant To Unify

Brooklyn, NY – An upcoming March meeting in Crown Heights aimed at easing tensions among diverse neighborhood groups runs the risk of excluding a large segment of the Jewish community.

DNAinfo.com (http://bit.ly/15yV5cf) is reporting that the meeting, sponsored by the Crow Hill Community Association, is scheduled for Saturday, March 23, between noon and 3 p.m., the time when the vast majority of the neighborhood’s Jewish residents observe the Sabbath.

Tensions have been simmering between longtime residents and newcomers along Crown Heights’ rapidly gentrifying Franklin Avenue corridor.

The purpose of the meeting, according to organizer, Susan Boyle, is to give disparate groups a chance to iron out their differences in a Town Hall setting.

“We wanted to be able to reach out to the biggest group possible,” said Boyle.

Jewish community leaders are voicing their objections to the apparent snub.

Rabbi Ari Kirschenbaum of Congregation Kol Israel, a large and rapidly growing Orthodox synagogue near the intersection of St. Johns Place and Franklin Avenue, has been openly critical.

“They say they want all voices to be heard, but in order to achieve that, everybody needs to be there or at least have an opportunity to be there,” said the rabbi. “It’s disappointing that in a community that’s evolving, that has so many diverse backgrounds and ethnicities, that they wouldn’t consider making it all-inclusive.”

Boyle said she and others regret that their Jewish neighbors will be unable to attend, but that other concerns ‘outweighed’ their input. She also said the association had ‘reached out’ to Kirschenbaum about the meeting.

Kirschenbaum said he never got so much as a phone call.

“Obviously you cannot accommodate everybody,” said Kirschenbaum. “But this way you’re divorcing a complete segment of the population.”