Crown Heights: It's all about lack of leadership!

Moshe Rubashkin and Chanina Sperlin

The situation in Crown Heights has gotten to the point where people are afraid to go out at night, and sometimes even in broad daylight. Jewish blood has become cheap, and nobody seems to care, maybe even those in the community itself. Not since the 60s has it been so bad there, yet one would think that it couldn't happen in a time like this, after 60+ years in a community. Correct me if I'm wrong, and if I'm comparing two dissimilar situations, but I doubt the good people of Williamsburg, Boro Park, or any other community would stand for what goes on there almost on a daily basis. They would do what they need to do so that the community would at least feel like they have a sense of safety. Right now people there are sick and tired of the lack of leadership and have begun to take matters into their own hands. You have Shomrim beating up innocent black kids. Or is it Shmira? I forget.

You might think the solution is simple: do what Jews did in the 50s and 60s, pack up and move to Boro Park. But consider this, Jews have been living in comfort and security there for quite some time now. Gone were the days where you were afraid to walk the streets at night, especially in the center of CH. You could walk the streets late at night without fear, especially during the Giuliani days. But recently, especially the last year or so, it's as if the criminal class has realized that the tough times were over, and it was business as usual for them. Hardly a week goes by these days without an incident of robbery and/or assault. I can understand that most people have neither the time nor the resources to do anything about the situation. They're too busy trying to make ends meet and raising families. But there is usually a group of askonim that deals with things like this, so that the working zhlobs don't have to. This is where Crown Heights lags so far behind, and never has it been as bad as it is now.