Crown Heights advice

I'd also like to see some opinions of Crown Heights. My landlord is selling the building I currently live in, and I'm thinking of moving to Bergen around Nostrand. Any tips, warnings, advice? Thanks!

tough call. i would think about venturing southward. there are two good reasons: transportation is better (prospect park Q), and there are still pretty good deals to be had around flatbush/washington aves. it seems safer than going further east into crown heights. i guess the nabe i'm talking about is lefferts gardens? not a lot happening in terms of bars/restaurants, but it's very close. and better to be right on the park.

Subject: bergen/bklyn ave

sje, wow, that's 7 blocks past washington. quite a trip from where your old/new store is.

is this still crown heights, or is it bedstuy?

and what else did the beat cop have to say? im interested.

Going into Crown Heights is not the best idea. Yeah rent may be cheaper, but the neighborhood sucks. Watch out. ANd be carefull. You are gonna stand out and you will be a target for crime

Sje,

Despite our disagreement on other things, please be careful about moving to that section of Crown Heights. I have two friends who grew up in the area where you are considering moving. While crime there has gone down, it can still get pretty rough. Both of them have been robbed at gunpoint several times apiece. The area around Brooklyn and New York Avenues is nicer. On a positive note, if you move there, you will have some great food nearby. I'm sure that Isa can tell you about the veggie fare at IMHOTEP.

Subject: i like crown heights

i've lived here for nearly 4 years (along nostrand, right near where the bus scene in "the interpreter" was shot). i have a huge place, that's renovated and cheap. the cops seem to have a negative view of the neighborhood and its residents though, regardless of their race. my boyfriend (who is white) was stop and frisked and given the third degree by five cops once for waiting outside our building for the verizon guy to come back from fixing our phone connection. they tried to arrest him for loitering. outside his own building. the asshats.

its noisy, its lively, its got some really good veggy take outs, and the trains are good. however, you will have to put up with a certain level of street trade and occasional dodgyness. however if you keep your nose out of the business, you won't have any problems.

i think i'll be really sad if it gentrifys to the point where people complain about the noise though...

Subject: if you look around on the side streets...

i live east of there, but generally, you'll notice that most of the cars are pretty decent, if not rather expensive. not to say that it doesn't happen but: the only "break-in" i witnessed recently was lenny, the neighborhood crackhead/handyman helping jimmy the locks of a car belonging to an elderly couple who had locked themselves out. :roll:

my former roomate had an old volkswagen fox which was--by far--the crappiest car on the block, the car doors wouldnt lock and the moon roof would open by the force of driving the car...and it was ok. also, my boyfriend keeps his vespa locked out front and nobody's messed with it.

the thing i would worry about is alternate side parking. what a hassle.

Marthaldreda wrote: Thanks, t-fal.

It sounds like there are pretty mixed opinions about this area. I love the apt. my roomie and I saw, but we're a little worried about coming home at night, too. We're both in our mid-20s and like to go out on the weekends till fairly late. We can't afford to take cabs all the time, so we wonder how we'll feel about taking the subway late to the Franklin Ave stop.

i'm a mid-20's female...and lived on st. johns btw franklin and classon for a year (just moved away). i had no problems taking the subway at night. there's always people out and about and a lot of people get off at the franklin stop. and there are usually cops patrolling the area.

living in the neighborhood was ok. i'm asian and experienced quite a few incidents of racial comments made by members of community towards me. i did nothing to provoke these comments. i never really felt like this neighborhood was my "home" so i've since moved to another neighborhood where i feel more comfortable. i always felt like i was an outsider. and my friend visiting from new mexico once heard one comment in passing...one guy was talking to another guy and motioned to her and her boyfriend that they're the reason rents are going up and that they'll have to move out of the neighborhood.

but in terms of safety, i've never felt unsafe. you just have to be aware...like anywhere you go in the city.

and i do have a car and parked it over there a couple of times and had no problems. i have an old subaru. just make sure you're not parked in front of a wheelchair entrance on the sidewalk! i made that mistake once and paid a $120 ticket. although my friend has a toyota corolla and someone once broke into her car and stole some pennies in her change drawer. she was parked on classon and st johns. she didn't have anything else in her car and didn't have a club...not sure if that's really a deterrent or what.

all in all, rents are cheap, spaces decent and neighborhood is safe. just be aware of your surroundings.