6 episodes

Thirty years ago, in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights, a car accident set off four days of unrest. Two people died. Dozens were injured. Hundreds were arrested. In this Pineapple Street Studios series, journalist Collier Meyerson explores what came to be known as the “Crown Heights Riot.” It’s a story about immigration, New York City’s first Black mayor, the rise of Rudy Giuliani, and the Lubavitch Jewish and Caribbean-American communities sitting at the center of it all. To Meyerson, the Crown Heights Riot can help us unlock and understand so many of our modern dilemmas: from police violence and racism to the persistence of antisemitism.

Love Thy Neighbor: Four Days in Crown Heights That Changed New York Pineapple Street Studios

    • History
    • 4.5 • 220 Ratings

Thirty years ago, in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights, a car accident set off four days of unrest. Two people died. Dozens were injured. Hundreds were arrested. In this Pineapple Street Studios series, journalist Collier Meyerson explores what came to be known as the “Crown Heights Riot.” It’s a story about immigration, New York City’s first Black mayor, the rise of Rudy Giuliani, and the Lubavitch Jewish and Caribbean-American communities sitting at the center of it all. To Meyerson, the Crown Heights Riot can help us unlock and understand so many of our modern dilemmas: from police violence and racism to the persistence of antisemitism.

    Episode 1: All Good

    Episode 1: All Good

    It’s August 2020 in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights. Collier Meyerson is at a retirement party for an NYPD officer. Listening to speeches, chatting with guests, watching politicians hobnob with religious leaders, everything seems…all good. But as Meyerson steps back onto the streets of the neighborhood, just weeks after thousands mobilized to protest that Black lives matter, she’s reminded of what happened here almost thirty years before. And she can’t help but wonder how we got here.

    To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    • 33 min
    Episode 2: Coming to America

    Episode 2: Coming to America

    How did Chabad-Lubavitchers and Caribbeans end up buying homes and settling in Crown Heights? Collier Meyerson goes back to the first half of the 20th century to understand how these two groups, from such different places, changed New York City, how New York City changed them, and how the tensions between them first began.

    To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    • 41 min
    Episode 3: Things Fall Apart

    Episode 3: Things Fall Apart

    As more and more white people leave New York City for the suburbs, the Chabad-Lubavitchers and Caribbean-Americans remain in Crown Heights. Everyone is talking about violent crime. Private citizens patrol the streets in groups. New York City elects its first Black mayor, David Dinkins. And the neighborhood begins to reach its boiling point.

    To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    • 31 min
    Episode 4: Four Days in August

    Episode 4: Four Days in August

    It’s a warm evening in August 1991. Two Guyanese children are playing on the sidewalk when a car in the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s motorcade crashes into the two children. The moment ignites a series of events that will change not just Crown Heights, but New York City and policing throughout America, forever.

    To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    • 45 min
    Episode 5: Sound of da Police

    Episode 5: Sound of da Police

    After four days of unrest, the energy in Crown Heights seems to have calmed. Still, residents are eager to hold someone responsible for the deaths of Gavin Cato and Yankel Rosenbaum. In comes Rudolph Giuliani and the violent policing tactics Americans are far too familiar with today. 

    To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    • 41 min
    Introducing: Love Thy Neighbor

    Introducing: Love Thy Neighbor

    Thirty years ago, in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights, a car accident set off four days of unrest. Two people died. Dozens were injured. Hundreds were arrested. In this Pineapple Street Studios series, journalist Collier Meyerson explores what came to be known as the “Crown Heights Riot.” It’s a story about immigration, New York City’s first Black mayor, the rise of Rudy Giuliani, and the Lubavitch Jewish and Caribbean-American communities sitting at the center of it all. To Meyerson, the Crown Heights Riot can help us unlock and understand so many of our modern dilemmas: from police violence and racism to the persistence of antisemitism. 

    Starting February 15, you can listen to new episodes weekly on all platforms. Or you can binge the whole show exclusively on the Audacy app.

    To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

    • 3 min

Customer Reviews

4.5 out of 5
220 Ratings

220 Ratings

123JaJaMoMo ,

Fantastic work

Thank you.

jilliob ,

Every New Yorker Should Listen

A well-researched and well-sourced story that does something rather unique for a documentary about racism. It embraces the gray areas between opposing points of view. It’s also optimistic! The narrator is exceptional. Five episodes seemed to be the perfect length.

Harryprince1234 ,

Very interesting and well done!

Enjoyed podcast!!

Top Podcasts In History

The Rest Is History
Goalhanger Podcasts
Throughline
NPR
American Scandal
Wondery
You're Wrong About
Sarah Marshall
Dan Carlin's Hardcore History
Dan Carlin
American History Tellers
Wondery

You Might Also Like

Crooked City: Dixon, IL
truth.media
Witnessed: 19 Days
Campside Media / Sony Music Entertainment
The Just Enough Family
Sony Music Entertainment
Culpable
Tenderfoot TV, Resonate Recordings & Audacy
Over My Dead Body
Wondery
Someone Knows Something
CBC