Crown Heights, Brooklyn, NY – Tensions are high in Crown Heights, between the Jewish community leaders and the local NYPD brass over charges that there's been a spike in bias beatings of Jews and police are ignoring it. Join our WhatsApp group
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"The Police Department has been downgrading racial instances in our community to robberies, rather than addressing the true origin of the crime," charged Jewish Leadership Council President Barry Sugar.
But Police Department sources said that a faction within the CH Jewish community seeks to oust the 71st Precinct's commanding officer, Inspector Frank Vega.
In the most recent incident, 16-year-old Samuel Balkany was beaten by five black youths Jan. 18, as they shouted "Oh, little Jew boy, you think you own this neighborhood," and "Who are you, f—ing Jew?"
"It's gotten more blatant and more vicious in the past year and there hasn't been a response," the teen added.
Another Jewish man said, he was also the victim of a hate-crime beating that was ignored by the cops.
"I was on my way home and a man approached me and he started yelling, "F—ing Jew. Dirty Jew. I'm gonna finish what Hitler started," said Moshe Kozlovsky, 20, saying he was knocked unconscious but that nothing was stolen from him.
Kozlovsky said cops lost the police report and had to let the suspect go free after arresting him.
But an NYPD spokesman said possible hate crimes were always thoroughly investigated. "The NYPD takes all hate crime seriously, and our record shows it," said Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne.
Sugar, however, said that those concerns have fallen on deaf ears. He said Vega filibustered a community council meeting, which resulted in a walkout of more than 200 Jews after about an hour.
"It was very obvious his intent was not to allow anybody in the Jewish community to voice their frustrations," he said. "He usually only talks for about 10 minutes – not an hour."
But precinct Community Council President Carl Cohen, who was also present, said Sugar misunderstood the proceedings.
"The inspector was giving a year-end speech, which takes longer. I think that [Sugar] probably reacted a little too soon," Cohen said. "After he left, the inspector was taking questions, and he even asked if Mr. Sugar is still here."[nydailynews – VIN News]
It is amazing nthat 14 years after his petira it still isn’t safe to mention that he was a gadol but not THE gadol. (Although this might be progress. For the first 10years you couldn’t safely mention that he wasn’t Moshiach.)
Are the rest of us such a threat to you?
FYI, it was a (pro)-Lubavitch poster who dragged this into the rebbe-sphere.
No one takes issue with the fact that he was, when alive, the Nosi of Lubavitch.
It is the nahrishkeit of his being the Nosi of all klal yisroel starts that the vast majority of shomrai torah u’mitzvos who had or have rebbeh’s and roshai yeshiva of thier own are turned off to Lubavitch.
It isn’t our problem, it is yours.
Don’t you ever wonder even for a minute why with all the machlokesen between groups of yiddin, r”l, everyone else gets along with most other groups but has problems with one or two others but this can’t be said (with a straight face) about chabad?
9:54 you proved your point yourself. If the Israeli govt. listened to the Rebbe’s advice/directives/call it what you want, yes, Israel would have the oil in Sinai, Damascus, the Gaza strip, & world politics would be very different.
To me & my fellow Lubavitchers the Rebbe is the Nasi Hador. You don’t like it? So what? I don’t tell you who your Gadol should be, don’t you tell me who I should follow.
You Anti-Lubavitchers take every opportunity to attack us. In this case you completely bypassed the topic, which was crime in CH, & used this post as a forum to attack. You never stop, do you? you really are pathetic & obsessed. It’s amazing that 14+ years after the Rebbe’s petira we are still a threat to you! We must be doing a great job.
To Anon 9:12;
Huh? What are you proving? Osama Bin Laden is also known to every frum and not frum Jew as well! Is he the Nosi Hador? Stephen Wise during the 40’s was also known to everyone; does that make him the Nosi Hador? A Nosi is someone who the entire Jewish people listen to; unless you practice denial or historic revision, the Rebbe was not listened to by the whole Jewish people. If they did, Israel would still be occupying the Sinai Peninsula.
Were everything said accurate, which it is not (but I refuse to play the childish ‘who’s gadol did more for klal yisroel’ game. Klal Yisroel was blessed with many great leaders in the previous generation. )it would hardly justify crowning Rebbeh ZaTza”L the ‘nosi hador’, especially since torah giants of the previous generations accorded the rebbeh ZaTza”L honor but never refered to him as ‘nosi hador’.
THE REBBE IS KNOW TO THE FRUM AND NOT YET FRUM YIDDEN IN NEARLY EVERY PLACE IN THIS WORLD
REB KOTLER AND HUTNERWHERE FOR THEMSELVES MAKUM HATORAH NOT TO BRING CAS VESHALOM ANOTHER HOLOCUST IN THE YIDDISHER KEHILLOUS!
Anonymous said…
I don’t follow your point – Are you agreeing that what the rebbeh ztz”l said is too old to be relevent?
chas v’shalom, fakert.
January 28, 2008 3:29 PM
Why chas veshalom???
He said it 20+ years ago and was niftar 10+ years ago so there is no proof that if he were alive today he would still give the same advice.
The rebbeh ZaTza”L was well aware of what was going on around him and kept up with current events. Why are you so sure his advise wouldn’t have changed with the situation??
Anonymous said…
to 2:03 PM
are you meshugah you would vote leaving crown heights and than the problem will come to boro park and till when will it end????
January 28, 2008 7:35 PM
What a strange question for a frum yid to ask.
It will end b’vias go’el tzeddek bimhairah b’yomainu!
The Real Shliach said…
Hey reel, the Rebbe is not a Gadol, the Rebbe is a Nassi Hador, which means that he is the Moshe of this generation. Anyway, why does every single thing that’s even remotely connected to Lubavitch have to bring all the Chabad haters out of the closet? This is an issue that affects all Jews, not just the ones in CH.
January 28, 2008 10:06 PM
Where do you see any hatred of Chabad in this? I would say the same thing about yiddin living in any bad area. Get Out. The Bronx was once loaded with yiddin. They all moved left. So what? We’ve been wondering for two thousand years and it is nahrishkeit to think America is not part of galus and our stay in any part of America is meant to be permanent. We can wait for the Geula Shlaima anywhere. No reason to do it in Crown Heights.
BTW, bimchilas k’vod toraso haromah, the Rebbeh ZaTza”L was a brilliant and charismatic leader of his followers and strongly influenced many Jews but he wasn’t the nasi hador any more than my rebbeh was nasi hador, or for that matter any more than were any of the rebbeh’s and roshai yeshiva.
Reb Ahron Kotler ZaTza”L built Lakewood but I never heard of him refered to as ‘nasi hador’. Rav Hutner ZaTza”L left a mini empire of torah as his legacy but I never heard of him being “nasi hador”.
The closest I’ve seen to anyone being refered to as ‘nasi hador’ is that Rav Elyoshiv zul gzunt und shtark biz hindred und tzvontzik yuhr refers to a certain rosh yeshiva her in America as Pe’er Hador.
Lets just stay acknowladge that Bli Ayin Horah the RBS”O continues to bless klal yisroel with many great manhigim and stop the nonesense of playing ‘my rosh yeshiva learns better than yours, my rebbeh does more nissim than yours etc……’
It serves no purpose and does no good for klal yisroel. Unless you consider machlokes good for klal yisroel.
G’nik Shoin!
For those who care to know Crown Heights Shmira was the first volunteer Jewish Security organization Brooklyn ever had,
Crown Heights Shomrim is a splinter group about one third the size of Shmira, it was created about six years ago when the majority of Shmira members voted against an angry few, Shmira is very effective in CH and has arrested any serial burglar and attackers the area has had, as a matter of fact NYPD advises ppl to call Shmira if they want results.
Shmira is not fighting CH Shomrim at all, not even in the slightest bit, if you monitor the Shmira Radio you would not ever hear a negative comment about CH Shomrim,
I can tell you that is NOT the case if you monitor CH Shomrim radio. Many attempts were made by Shmira coordinators thru family members of CH Shomrim and thru community leaders to the ppl running CH Shomrim to sit together with Shmira to work out any six year old issues they might still have not forgotten, just for the benefit of the community, but they have steadfastly refused, so that is where it stands.
CH Shmira will continue to stand strong and do its hard work until the final Geulah!
Crown Heights Shmira 718-221-0303
why don’t you just ignore the haters – we all know who they are please its so old already.
for the record I think shomrim is very succesful and well accepted by the CH community. Family I have in CH always mentions shomrim – I actually never heard of the term shmira.
I do wish someone would explain what the difference is though.
Hey reel, the Rebbe is not a Gadol, the Rebbe is a Nassi Hador, which means that he is the Moshe of this generation. Anyway, why does every single thing that’s even remotely connected to Lubavitch have to bring all the Chabad haters out of the closet? This is an issue that affects all Jews, not just the ones in CH.
Why did the lubavitcher rebbe say at that time not to leave crown heights.If I am not mistaken it was because he thought you cant leave poor Jews, who cant afford to move, to fend for themselves.But my question is look what is going on in crown heights, why would he want Jews to live there when all the other Jews left. pleezz don’t give me, that the rebbe could not be wrong about anything, was he infallible look a lot of gedolim before the rebbes time made mistakes, so stop making stupid fools of your selfs that the rebbe is in fallible that what the world has against lubavitch
to 2:03 PM
are you meshugah you would vote leaving crown heights and than the problem will come to boro park and till when will it end????
i know insp vega very well and as a personal friend for many years…i dont think he is so bad to the people there…he is a very good and soft person…i am sure he is working very hard …i will sure call him soon to hear what he says about this situation….
“big city actuary 10:17AM. The justifications and rationalizations are wonderful. But you know yourself what would happen if one were to decide to amortize mortgages only on Yellow houses and leave them intact on Orange or Red ones.”
Not a rationalization or justification, at all. Just an insight as to how police (most of whom are NOT anti-semitic) think.
I’ve heard of similar tales of crime stats suppression in white neighborhoods, e.g. lower Manhattan/Chinatown, where a DI told a (white) bar owner to keep a special eye on patron’s pocketbooks/purses, as the theft of one counts as grand larceny, and, paraphrasing, “if you make me trouble, I’ll make you trouble.” This was buried in an article in the NYT.
I think that it is time that the community force shomrim/shmira to get together, and do whats right for the community. Neither is doing a good job, as they are too busy fighting with each other over stupidity. When the Brass in PD will see the community united, then we will see them acting. Its happened before in many other communities, and the lessons are just waiting to be learned.
I don’t follow your point – Are you agreeing that what the rebbeh ztz”l said is too old to be relevent?
chas v’shalom, fakert.
Is there a mitzvah of Yishuv Crown Heights?
around 1989, The Rebbe instituted Shnas HaBinyan, in which The Rebbe strongly encouraged people to buy homes in Crown Heights, or to add onto existing homes.
January 28, 2008 2:38 PM
I don’t follow your point – Are you agreeing that what the rebbeh ztz”l said is too old to be relevent?
I had really hoped that the practice of Rebbehs telling people not to leave bad neighborhoods had dies in Buchenwald.
My grandfather a”h lost 9 siblings and all of thier children and grand-children with the exception of a son of one sibling and a grandson of another who never even tried to get out. I am not blaming the Rebbeh’s because they thought this was just another tragic wave of anti-semitism and most people would suffer but survive while America was seen as the end of yiddishkeit, c”v.
But now we know that even bigger people than the rebbehs of our time were wrong.
Is there a mitzvah of Yishuv Crown Heights?
around 1989, The Rebbe instituted Shnas HaBinyan, in which The Rebbe strongly encouraged people to buy homes in Crown Heights, or to add onto existing homes.
Anonymous said…
The Rebbe said to stay in crown heights and i agree that the internal fighting in the comunity is realy bad and that shmira/shomorim would do a better job if where connected but thats not happening any time soon
January 28, 2008 2:22 PM
But the rebbeh ztz”l is gone over 10 years already and never saw what the place looks like today.
Shmira and Shomrim are stupidly fighting each other, instead of the increasing crime around them. Because of their blind selfishness; they are in a self destruct mode and will drag the community down with them. I really feel for the people of crown heights.
2:03pm
For the record I am no chabadnick. On the contrary I have more Satmar relatives.
What narishkeit. How can you advocate leaving Crown Heights.
Why should the yidden living in CH leave their homes with their tails between their legs.
What did they do wrong?
Should they fold like cheap cameras? (with my apologies to Bob Grant for using his trademark).
This is America my friend– NY no less–No one should be required to leave their homes.
With your logic: What is next?yellow stars H-shem Yishmor. Bist du fardreit.
Are you for real?
I CANNOT BELIEVE YOUR COMMENT.
Your 14 cents is well worth it.
YOU CAN NOT BUY ANYTHING FOR 14 Cents.
14 cents might not even be worth a shaveh perutuh anymore.
The Rebbe said to stay in crown heights and i agree that the internal fighting in the comunity is realy bad and that shmira/shomorim would do a better job if where connected but thats not happening any time soon
Anon. 11:07 AM. I’ll just comment on your last line. “Just rewind 60 years ago in Europe”. Just rewind 16 1/2 years ago in CROWN HEIGHTS. Where, from an automobile accident [not even mentioning the question of shared fault] could spring a riot of [officially sanctioned] robbing, maiming and killing. Even though our present Police Commissioner was the Chief of operations at that time. But he was overruled by that CLOWN, lee-out-of-TOWN, bROWN.
big city actuary 10:17AM. The justifications and rationalizations are wonderful. But you know yourself what would happen if one were to decide to amortize mortgages only on Yellow houses and leave them intact on Orange or Red ones.
Is there a mitzvah of Yishuv Crown Heights?
Everyone else got the heck out of there years ago and are living bli ayin horah b’shalom in BP, WB, Flatbush, etc.
True there have been some spray painting and such but in general we have less violent crime here.
Just my 14 cents (I used to only give my two cents but with inflation and higher taxes and the price of oil……..)
This is why I miss former mayor Rudy Giuliani. This kind of shenanegens would not have been tolerated.
Bloomberg is no Rudy.
Unfortunately the republican voters are blinded by McCain.
“Rudy gets results.”
Hey! maybe he can call me for some consulting.
Win Rudy Win.
And of Course 11:39 Achdus would help. Machlokes always ruins everything constructive.
Let us pray for Unity and help from Above in dealing with these important matters.
The problem in Crown Heights is that there is no achdus in the community, and the so called factions are fighting like crazy in public. In other communities, even where there is disputes, when it comes to representation to political connections, we make a unified front.
In CH you have shomrim and shemira. These two organizations fight so terribly, and use the police against each other. Let’s first create a united Shomrim/Shmira, and then we can work on getting things done at the police dept.
to tina, we have shmira and shomrim
my husband was at that meeting, and he left after an hour and a half of filibustering.
recently, the 71st precinct police stopped a hatzoloh responding to an emergency and forced him to wait for 5 minutes. apparently this isn’t the first time. check it out.
ANON 1039 YOUR ABSOLUTLEY RIGHT
TO QUOTED THE BOSTONER REBBE SHLITA IN THIS PAST WEEKS HAMODIA MAGAZINE “WE ARE IN A MEDINA SHEL CHESED AND MUST OBEY ITS LAWS BUT AT THE SAME TIME WE SHOULD USE THE LAW TO PROTECT OUR RIGHTS TO THE FULLEST EXTENT POSSIBLE”
IN THIS CASE IF IT MEANS GOING TO INTERNAL AFFAIRS SO BE IT
IF WE IGNORE SMALL ACTS OF ANTI SEMETISIM IT WONT GO AWAY IT WILL JUST GROW LIKE A CANCER WE ALL KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN BIASED RACIAL ANTI SEMETIC ACTS ARE BRUSHED UNDER THE RUG JUST REWIND 60 YEARS AGO IN EUROPE
I know cases of “missing “police reports in my area pct’s.
I have had one particular person file 6 reports because on 5 different occassions for the same report -the file kept on disappearing. After the third time we called internal affairs and they set up a sting operation where an undercover officer posed as a “helper” and came with us to see with his own eyes of what is going on in the pct.
Three people were demoted and will never get anywhere in the police force because internal affairs do their investigations seriously.
Everything takes time but I urge every single person living in crown heights to call 311 and ask to be transfered to internal affairs. We guarantee you that pressure works. Sharpton never lets go so why should we take this lightly?
Concerned citizen
One think readers may not know: because of COMPSTAT, PD officials have a big incentive to sweep *all* crime, no matter what, no matter against whom, under the rug. It makes them look bad, and they do not want to look bad. That, I think, is bigger motivator for Vega then racism.
If this is as reported in the story, then Vega needs to be pushed out…pressure needs to be put on those in command at the highest level at NYPD and at the city government to see that the Jews of Crown Heights are safe..period!! There cannot be acceptance of this do nothing or do little attitude!! Where is our friend Joe Fox at NYPD? and where is our Borough President Markowitz when we need them?
vega must be related, or a talmid of dinkins ym’s
is there shomrim in crown heights? it helps alot –
Inspector Vega is indeed very soft on crime, particularly when it impacts the Jewish community. Would I say he’s a racist? No, he’s just looking out for himself & the most expedient way of promoting his career is to make nice with the Blacks. After all, who is the greater trouble maker – Berel Sugar or, L’havdil, Al Sharpton?
So if push comes to shove, it’s politically savvy to offend a bunch of Chassidim rather than tell the truth in his precinct numbers & have his officers actually do something, like take reports.
G-d forbid they should actually SOLVE a crime against one of us!
If you noticed, too, when Berel Sugar spoke against the cops at the news meeting at the JCM, everyone applauded except the very careful politicians!