y, August 5, 1977 23
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Frida
Hasidim, Blacks Seek Easing of Tensions in N.Y.
BY NANCY CHANIN
AND BRIAN LIPSITZ
NEW YORK (JTA)—The
Hasid, tsitsit hanging at his
side. and the young man. a
black. clad in a bright blue
gym suit. could be seen ges-
turing and talking to each
other •as they faced the Ma-
roon store front. A closer
look revealed they were
reading a flyer which por-
trayed a Hasidic .Jew beat-
ing up a young black.
The flyer charged the
Crown Heights Community
Patrol. a civilian anti-crime
patrol sponsored by the--
Crown Heights Jewish Corn-
munity Council. with harass-
ing blacks and said: "Are
we willing to be put into a
concentration camp without
raising our voices?"
Across the street, at this
seemingly innocuous corner
of Troy Ave. and Montgom-
ery St.. in the Crown
Heights section of Brook-
lyn, stood the solitary tele-
phone booth where, on June
4, 17-year-old yeshiva stu-
dent Abraham Goldman
was stabbed to death.
There is an air of tension
in the tree-shaded Crown
Heights area. And the dam-
age to stores in this area
during the power blackout
July 13-14 is, perhaps, not
entirely unrelated to the-
simmering feelings 'of suspi-
cion and distrust between
the Hasidic and black com-
munities here.
Crown Heights. the-center
for the Lubavitcher Hasi-
dim, is now about 60 per-
cent black and Z..percent
Hasidic. -
Since the Goldman mur-
der, the Jewish community
has been tense and angry.
The Jewish crime pre-
vention patrol has in-
tensified its duties.
According to the Jewish
Community Council, these
duties are to protect both
the Jewish and black resi-.
dents of the area by serving
as a deterrent to crime.
But according to many
blacks, the patrol has taken
the law into its own hands
by harassing and -assaulting -
blacks.
To the black community,
the patrol is little more
than a "vigilante" group
not in the least concerned
with the welfare of blacks.
These feelings culminated
in the July 9 demonstration
by about 500 blacks to pro-
test the alleged actions of
the patrol.
In random interviews
with Jews and blacks in
Crown Heights, many black
residents said they thought
the patrol was a good idea.
MIIF but that some of its mem-
bers occasionally abused
their power. Some blacks
said the patrol should not
exist, but if it had to exist
it should also include
blacks.
Taylor Hamp, a Crown
Heights resident for 20
years. said he was recently
"pulled" from his car while
sitting in a no-parking zone
by members of the patrol.
He said he decided not to
press charges because of
what he termed the politi-
410
-
cal power possessed by the
Hasidic community.
Bernard and Larry. two
young men who attended
the .July 9 demonstration,
thought the patrol "looks
pretty good but was kind of
unfair." Larry said he had
been approached by patrol
members and "hassled. Ver-
bal harassment is the key
issue."
Both complained that pa-
trol members were "limit-
ing themselves".by not pro-.
tecting everyone in Crown
Heights. Bernard said that
if someone was being rob-
bed just outside the pre-
cinct -where they were
being interviewed, the pa-
trol "wouldn't get involved.
If the patrol protected
everyone, we would have a
lot more community cooper-
ation."
At a recent press confer-
ence, members of the Hasid-
ic community would not
say how extensive an area
their patrol covers.
However. Scholom Gan-
sburg, a Crown'Heights resi-
dent. said the patrol was
"necessary" and that it
was doing a 4 `fair job." A
few months ago Gansburg
said he was held up by
blacks and the patrol ap-
peared immediately, caught
his assailants and took him
to the hospital.
A rabbi who would not
identify himself but was pre-
Sent at the press confer-
ence, said that the July -9
demonstration was "purely
political." involving
"people who were running
for something."
People were _"imported"
to attend the demonstra-
tion, the rabbi said. Classes
at Medgar Evers College in
the Crown Heights area
were "interrupted" and
people were told to attend
the rally, according to the
rabbi.
During the New York
blackout, Utica Ave., a
major thoroughfare' in
Crown Heights, was severe-
ly looted and damaged.
However, Kingston Ave.. an-
other thoroughfare. was vir-
tually untouched. Rabbi
Yehuda Krinsky. a spokes-
man for the Lubavitcher.
Hasidim, attributed this to
the fact that the patrol is
centered in the Kingston
area..
The blacks readily accept
the .claims of various
flyers, posted and dis-
tributed to blacks in the
area, which accuse the Hasi-
dim of harassing them, al-
though few blacks say they
themselves have seen such
incidents.
The Jews deny any such
actions asserting that in in-
stances where the_ patrol
members may have acted
too forcefully, it was only
.y
Bureau Director
WASHINGTON—Lily P.
Edelman. has been named
director of the expanded
Bnai Brith Lecture Bureau.
as well as consultant on spe-
cial projects for Bnai Brith
International and Bnai
Brith's Anti-Defamation
League.
laws, and criticized the
Jews for not living up to
their resi3onsibility of lead-
ing a more moral life, as
an example for all.
Vinson .Jones. a burly
black man with specks of
gray in his beard. came out
of the candy store where he
works and joined the con-
versation.
He said he did not think it
was fair that the blacks
were being harassed by the
Jews, particularly since
three Hispanic youths were
charged with the Goldman
killing.
The City Human Rights
Comrnission is attempting
to mediate in Crown
Heights, Michael Hernan-
dez, its_ executive director.
said. However. efforts to
in self-defense.
The Crown Heights Com-
munity Council announced
recently that it wanted to
meet with black leaders to
resolve the tensions, and
said that blacks have been
invited to join the patrol.
However, the process is
slow, said Rabbi Mendel
Shemtov, chairman of the
council.
The council is trying to
find responsible black lead-
ers to help design a frame-
work by which b4eks could
join the patrol: Shemtov
said. but added that they
are having a problem find-
ing them. 1
Counter-charges of . rac-
ism and latent anti-Semi-
tism have passed back and
forth between the two com-
munities in an effort to ex-
plain the current tensions.
But the Hasid and the
young black man who were
arguing over the truth of
the flyer taped to the win-
dow of "Kelly Candy
Store," see things other-
wise._ '
To 17-year-old Earl Ar-
rington. the . Hasidim are
"all-right neighbors." He
didn't feel the current tense
situation was caused by the
Goldman murder. He said
he was uncertain about the
roots of the problem. but
suspected it has something
to do with the influx of
blacks and the lack of jobs.
Yisroel Akiva Bernstein,
a young Hasid, said there is
a bigger perspective to the
problem which he believes
is caused by the failure of
blacks and Jews to "follow
God-given laws." He chided
blacks for not following the
universal seven Noachic
meet separately with the
parties have yet to yield re-
sults.
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