Posted to Crown Heights News on

Time for a New Chabad Community in New York?

As the cost of living in Crown Heights continues to soar, and making ends meet on a stagnate income becomes more and more difficult, some members of the Crown Heights community have decided that enough is enough – it’s time to start a new Lubavitch community in a more affordable part of the New York City Area.

The conversation was started with an innocuous post to The Chabadnik, a Facebook group better known as Crown Heights Craigslist. Earlier this month, group member Yossi Rosenblat posted the following message:

“Looking to start a group of people interested in starting new Lubavitch community, I think the criteria should be within an hour from Crown Heights, affordable housing, parks, public transportation to Manhattan etc.”

The response was explosive. Within a few hours the post received almost 150 comments and over 100 likes.  A lot of suggestions were thrown around; among the spots vying to be the home of a new Chabad community were Blooming Grove, NY; Hillside, NJ; Elizabeth, NJ; Staten Island, NY and Bayswater, NY near JFK Airport and the Ohel.

Later that night, a new Facebook group named New Lubavitch Community was created with the express mission of finding a suitable location for the new community. The group quickly grew to almost 200 members.

It continues to be updated, along with the original Facebook post, by users submitting ideas and suggestions about where a Lubavitch family on a shoestring budget can raise a family without breaking the bank.

What do our readers think? Is Crown Heights fine the way it is? Should residents stay and try to improve the situation in the neighborhood? Or is it time to pack up and move somewhere else?

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99 Comments

  • Gone

    I already left, and am so grateful that I did. I was tired of Alternate Side, crime, insane rents, and most of all…the attitude.

    • To No. 2

      That is so disgusting of you. There is no denying that there are plenty of CHers that have an awful attitude and are extremely unpleasant people.

  • declasse' intelelctual

    Now, the other requirement is to be rid of this insane weather.

  • totally out!

    I believe crown heights is special with its ups and downs. The rebbe chose this place and didnt want people moving out unless it was for shlichus. there r beautiful communities all over the globe that shluchim set up but a need to leave and just be a lubavitch community elsewhere sounds silly. if the community is already established and u want to move for financial reasons or other reasins thats fine but i would join something already established. I would not imagine the Rebbe would want a new “Crown Heights” somewhere else. People have to stop looking at the negativity here and see the good also!

    • Just Sayin

      What is wrong with everyone in CH? Everyone knows what the Rebbe would want. Did you ask him?

      And please stop with the “New Crown Heights” BS. They aren’t trying to replace the Rebbe’s schunah. They just want an affordable place to raise good, chassidishe families. In acknowledgement of the fact that CH is the center for Lubavitch, one of the requirements is that the new community be within and hour of CH. How is that worse than communities in Morristown, Monsey, Montreal, Toronto, LA, Beunos Aires, Paris, or Miami??

    • cant say it better

      for all you negitive people that hate crown hights heres your options SLLICHUS montreal eretz yisroel

      only an established comunitty
      like from the 1930s’

  • Come to Monsey!

    Come to Monsey! There is an ever-growing Chabad community here. Best of all worlds. Come for a weekend and give it a try. It’s not your grandfather’s Monsey anymore…

  • serel maness

    many times we asked the rebbe,he requests us to stay here in crownheight,besides neither of us drive,must be near stores,as i do stop in wholesfood once in a while as the other stores just cannot get what i need,must have transportation to anywhere ville,so it’s not so simple,deliveries,etc,so you must look at moving very carefully,will you have what you need if you moved?

  • ch resident

    this is the Rebbes’ shchunah
    you want to live elsewhere for all the reasons stated;then do what many have done. move. but dont call it a’ new lubavitch community’.
    this is the “base” and that will not change

    • Just Sayin

      They aren’t calling it the new base of Lubavitch, just a new community of Lubavitchers. Notice how one of the requirements is for it to be close to CH… Stop being overly sensitive.

  • Baltimore

    I love Baltimore! great Lubavitch Community, Chabad Cheder, tons of young Families. very affordable housing. 3 hours to NY Very large Jewish community already in place, restaurants, shuls, kosher stores…

    we love it here

  • tough question

    If you want gashmius (I am not bashing that, believe me!!) then a new community may be the right idea. You can be frum & Chassidish anywhere if you want to be.

    Basically, all that CH has going for it is its deep connection to the Rebbe. If you are prepared to live without that, then it’s a good idea.

    Quite honestly, the way 770 has been taken over by thugs and lowlives, & the political & social strife & inequality here, the rocketing tuition rates, terrible housing etc etc, I don’t see what there is any more to keep even the most Chassidish of us living here. It is an inner city dump with poor amenities, terrible corruption & a marked lack of Ahavas Yisrael. If I hadn’t left I would be in on this new venture.

  • Go and help a shliach !

    What a great idea!

    Yes, move and enroll as a shliach helper. He’ll enjoy your help and the living example you’re committed to demonstrate.

    • Citizen Berel

      That is a good idea, and when he sends his kids to live by family for upper elementary and mesivta you can send your kids to live with them, too.

      Or you can send your kids to the shluchim online school what charges full tuition and doesn’t let in students what are kids of people what are not shluchim.

      Or you can move to a bigger Jewish community what has a school. What has one school. One of them. Hope it works out.

      There are advantages to living in vibrant Jewish community.

  • kahn Tzivah

    The Rebbe the head of chabad said Chabad stays here; Who is the one that thinks that he will succeed to go against what the Rebbe wants????

    Kahn tzivah Hashem es Habracha!!!!!

  • Crown Heights

    Maybe a better solution is
    to get toghther and build a CHABAD Lubavitch Group in Crown heights.
    will start fight the Brokers and flippers that make it impossible to afford a crown heights property.
    and make it a better place .

  • Ruchniyus and Gashmiyus

    New Haven ,CT- 1 1/2 hrs from CH.

    Shul, School, Yeshivah,community…
    Train to Manhattan,affordable housing, affordable commercial real estate…

    • Moshe Kapoyer

      The people in charge will make your life miserable. They are known to be rude and controlling. Otherwise it’s a good idea.

  • CHer

    Go look for a place that will help a shliach with a minyon, with upgrading his community.
    Work on fixing what you see wrong instead of starting something new

  • Actually

    Actually, this is one area where Lubavitch can learn from Misnagdim, which is their ability and success to open flourishing communities with self-sustaining yeshivas and shuls in nearby areas that excel in affordable housing prices and low overhead. On a side note, isn’t it ironic how all the comments quoting the Rebbe about Kan Tziva conveniently forget to point out how all the Rebbe’s requests and Sichos about low rent, low tuition, and affordable housing — which did not materialize the way the Rebbe asked.

  • great idea

    I would move in a second.

    This is a perfect compromise for people who don’t want to leave to New York (bc of jobs, or family, or other reasons), but still want to live somewhere decent.

  • Loving SI

    Staten Island is a wonderful and safe place to live within 45 mins of crown heights. The head shluchim- The Katzmans are wonderful warm and dynamic. There is a bochurims yeshiva, a pre school and it is nice and affordable. 20 mins to boro park, 20 mins to New Jersey. The best of all worlds…..

    • Loving SI

      Love visiting Staten Island. It is a wonderful place to live. Love the Shluchim and the chabad house.

  • Not idealism

    This isn’t about idealism or theology. This is about dollars! It’s not possible for a young chassidish couple to afford housing here. Rents are through the roof and you can’t buy a house if yoiu don’t have huge amount of money or rich parents.
    There should definitely be a community of lubavithcers in a place where it’s affordable to l ive and also pay schar limud!

  • Chasha

    bs”D
    We invite you, dear fellow & gal Chabadniks, to come to the most beautiful weather [physical & spiritual] in the world…in the Holy Land of Israel :).

    Just let us know when you’re arriving so we can roll out the red carpet.

    Success in all the good you do,
    Chasha & Chabadniks Everywhere in Eretz HaKodesh

    • Citizen Berel

      Thank you very much, Chasha!

      No need for a red carpet, just please post the contact details of my new employer!

  • Long Island Communities

    If someone is interested in living out of Crown Heights, but still wants to send their children to Crown Heights schools, moving to Long Island might be a good option. The Long Island school districts will provide busing from your home to any school within 15 miles of your home. There is an established community in the Five Towns, but there are also other places like Valley Stream and Elmont that would work if even a few families move to those areas (and there are shluchim in those areas) BTW although 5T has a reputation for being a wealthy community, there are large pockets of affordable housing and down to earth people. However you do need to have at least 1 car to get around and will have to figure out how to get your kids to school on Sundays and Federal Holidays (generally families carpool).

    • Long Island Taxes

      Property tax in Long Island is waaaaaay up there! People forget that although housing in CH is expensive, our property taxes are super low. In the long run your mortgage ends, but taxes just keep going up.

    • 5T Resident

      Property taxes across the board are very high in NYS and NJ (outside of NYC). The typical property taxes for a medium house in Cedarhurst is 8k (approx. double what a house in NYC would be). However, you will save 1k off car insurance + plus you will not need to pay any NYC taxes on your income (which is roughly 4% of what you earn). If you make 75k a year, that equals 3k…so between car insurance and NYC taxes, you break even for a typical house in Cedarhurst (this doesn’t even include the money saved from parking tickets). Also, you can find move in condition house here in the 500’s…

  • Honesty

    A yid must live! So much strain gets put on shalom bayis due to huge stress of high rentals astronomical school fees, etc… Good on you all for getting up and doing something! Move on out and make both gashmius and ruchnius much better!

    Be the new sulu him where we you move! Existing shluchim- if u can’t establish your communities you’re not the ones for the job! Maybe u have ur positions from your mommy and fatties or u files etc or u have the grand big names, but tachlus be good shluchim or give it up as ure not for real!!

    Time for sincere Baalei teshuva to move I and b shluchim already!

    And existing shluchim… Get a job!!! Stop bumming off the hard working baalei teshuva!!! If u want ur privileged high paying easy cushy lives, EARN it! :)
    Plenty of us would luv the privilege of shluchim positions but b wise we lack famous names and connections were told to get lost.

    Go vita and estaish a thriving cost effective chassidishe community! Best of luck with your shluchim – may u succeed in every revealed way!

  • Crazy rent

    By our own jewish brothers is what is driving us all out.
    So to the few wealthy landlords- realize that what you are doing is quite low and contrary to anything mentchlich and to what the Rebbe wanted

  • thinking backwards

    Anyone that wants to move can move to monsey SI and so on to start your own community will cost you more then living in CH

    without going into all the details just think of all the help there is in CH, you will not get that once you move out for example, tuition if you start your own community will you have the money to start a school ? to get a building and pay teachers? or will you keep sending your children to CH, if so once you leave the CH schools will not give you a discount community schools give discounts to the local community, once you move out you will need to pay full tuition.

    are you ready for that? and that is just one of many. so think before you move

    • special

      What help is there??? For people who make a “middle income” there is no help. Sure if you make a low income you are stuck, but if you are in middle, you are working so hard, like running in circles without a second to breath. And prices here are just rising astronomically. Sure the RE brokers are smiling, maybe there will be enough people to keep it up, but for some of us, it just won’t work long term… So a nearby community that is somewhat affordable, an opportunity to not lived in cramped run down housing, well, there are just too many of us for it not to happen…

  • Im dying to leave,

    The rent is toooooooo high, and u can blame the flippers the flopppers and realestate brokers, bit you blame is ill placed, the FEDERAL RESERVE prints money, wich devalues tje dollar, thats why prices of everything is going up and will continue to do so. Realestaye prices went up especially high because the US congress had encuraged sub prime morgage lending as the FEDs printing presss went on a rampage. If tlyou want to know why tje stock market is freaking out, its because of the 60 billion month QE 4ever that th ey claim to be dropping by 5billion q month(the tapper) and 20, is supposed to be spent on securities, ill be hones I dont know for sure about the securities purchase as a requirement, but a friwnd had mentiond thisbto me who is slightly in the know…….

    How else can it be that unployment be so high, hard to find a job, yet the stock.market is allmost through its historic high?
    Bad fed policy thats how

    Basically, when the bubble brwaks its going to be basty in brooklyn, the good knews th e hipsters will hightail it out and as demand slides so will housing prices, just like in detroit.

    You know what they say in rome, when there is blood in the streets, by realestste, mayby that was the mofias, but who cares

  • DOVID

    YOU CAN ALWAYS MOVE TO EAST FLATBUSH, YOU CAN BUY HOMES THERE FOR 400K…
    OR OUTSKIRTS OF CH, YOU WILL ONLY BE 5 MIN FROM CH …IN MY OPINION SOCIALLY THERE IS NOTHING LIKE CH. WHERE CAN YOU GRAB A NICE FARB ON SHABBOS YOU CAN EVEN CHOOSE. YOU CAN CHOOSE SCHOOLS CHOOSE YOUR KIDS FRIENDS ECT…BUT I DO AGREE THERE IS A PROBLEM IN CH IN TERMS OF HOUSING. PERHAPS A GOOD IDEA IS TO MAKE A VAAD THAT WORKS TO KEEP PRICES TO A MINIMUM. PERHAPS A NOTHER HUGE CONDO COMPLEX IS NEEDED. CH SPIRITED BAGSHMIUS BROCHNIOUS CANNOT BE DUPLICATED ANYWHERE.

  • nokoshermeat.com

    You should move to Verplank, they’re looking for more Yidden….

  • Been there, done that!

    I did move out, then came back to CH and never regretted it for a minute.
    The grass looks greener on the other side, but the mentioned places all come with issues, including high costs. Looking for cheap, Monsey, L.I., Jersey, S.I., are you kidding?

  • Honesty

    Also rebbe did say 100 per cent to BUY and NOT RENT, if possible… In CH most young families its not possible to buy… All aspects must b considered and nobody should “speak” on behalf of rebbe saying He would never allow this etc… One cannot say that.
    Young families need to live and good to use new vital energy to build new endeavors… It’s about time! :)

  • Aryehleib

    Don’t even think about good non Chabad (not that you would) schools in NJ unless you are ready to pay 12,000 for elementary and 20k for high school. That is the meaning of a self sustaining yeshiva. Not hard to commute kids to Monsey from North Jersey though.

  • Bayswater

    Bayswater was mentioned as a possibility. Well, the Satmar community thrived for about 5 years here but they couldn’t get their kids to the schools in WBurg. They even tried a water taxi! So maybe it’s time for chabad to try? We have a very eclectic community, lots of choices, off the beaten track yet close enough to shops. If you are worried about ‘what the rebbe thinks/wants’ don’t worry, tracht gut veht zayn gut. Have pure intentions and your project will see fruit.

  • Yakov Kirschenbaum

    BS”D

    Yehi ratzon that nobody moves Crown Heights, the Rebbe’s sh’chunah (other than those going on the Rebbe’s shlichus, of course). I hope that the person trying to arrange this re-channels his efforts elsewhere.

    • yehi rotzan

      Save your yehi rotzan for other things. No one is “Moving Crown Heights” dont worry.

  • MONSEY PARADISE....

    My daughter lives in Monsey and the rent is enough to kill her. Food and almost everything else is way more expensive than here, and if she wants to come visit her family in CH it cost her close to $50 just for the gas and tolls. So basically you’re back to square one.

  • Not A proud CHer

    If all you “Kan tzivah” screaming people would actually treat it like Kan tzivah then maybe not all of these issues would bother so many.
    You let your kids dress like bums and you talk like toilet bowls and you live like rich stuck up people.
    Treat it like you want people to stay and maybe we will.

  • why argue

    I agree with #36.
    Why is this turning into an argument? Crown Heights is a good place to live. However, there is one major issue. Many people simply can’t afford to live and we must use our creativity to enable fellow lubavitchers to raise a chassidishe family in a chabad community After all,there are constantly new yeshivos and shuls opening,so why not open a new community?The goal is not to try to replace crown heights.

  • Ch

    Why do people feel moving to another community will resolve their issues?? … Why do people who live in this community want to pick themselves up and move to another community ??? .. Maybe the same people should challenge their energy and build their community where they are now living in the Rebbe’s community where the Rebbe gave them a bracha for living in this community … Moving will not resolve things they are running away from … Eventually it will catch up with them and they will be having same issues … People are people with egos and when one will not like what is being done in new community there will be another split .. So challenge energy to fix where you live here in the Rebbe’s community with the Rebbe’s brochos

  • The Rebbe asked for affordable housing

    Just the opposite is happening. I think it would be a good idea to extend Crown Heights into East Flatbush.
    The housing over there is much less then in Crown
    Heights but close enough to become one larger
    community. Whatever you decide to do should be
    with Hatzlachha. Something has to be done about the
    unaffordability of Crown Heights.

  • Are You A Lubavitcher Chossid or...

    Ask the Chozer Shimon Ahron Rosenfeld, I know there is a clear answer from the Rebbe: If you are NOT on Shlichus you have NO permission to leave Crown Heights. The Rebbe/His Answers are Chai Vekayon!

    • Citizen Berel

      Yes there is a clear answer to that effect what everybody knows and when I say everybody I mean absolutely nobody, except for Chozer Shimon Ahron Rosenfeld and those what ask him, but seriously, if there is such a directive, really it should be published because there is no simcha like having clarity where there was previously doubt.

  • Just Me!

    You have no idea how expensive everything is in other hoods.
    Like really – just food, school and taxes are all way higher.
    Like someone said the grass is not greener….sure it seems better – but a move out is a major step. Weigh the pros and cons rrrrreally carefully and be honest with yourself.
    Yup CH needs help on many levels but it is and always will be CH!

  • to #41

    I moved to monsey from crown heights and I do not regret it at all. I love it here and FYI it is not 50 dollars to crown heights and nothing near that.

  • Why not move a few families together into NEW BLOCKS IN CROWN HEIGHTS!

    Why not get a bunch of families together and buy houses together on blocks that have no yiden yet.

    Some examples would be going passed midwood, passed Rutland… East flatbush area…
    There are many beautiful blocks around the area…

    There are also so many potential places to build around and in ch….

    • Rethink "that's so far" please!

      We bought in the Maple St. area for less than $300,000 ten years ago: 3-br., garage, yard… We rent out our basement (TO YIDDEN ONLY!) so that makes it less expensive than our rent was even 10 years ago.
      In any community other than Crown Heights, a house that’s less than a half-hour walk to the shul is considered a “great location”! We walk 15 minutes to get to 770, and so many say “OH that’s SOOOO far away” when they find out where we live! But there are also great shtiebelach here in “south Crown Heights,” too!
      One more thing: The Rebbe is known to have said that those who expand the borders of Crown Heights are expanding the borders of Eretz Yisrael!
      Finally: All of you folks who are shoehorning-in a family with several kids into a 2-br. apt., and saying that a 3-br. house like ours is “so small,” should rethink their attitudes! Better that you wish your house was a bit bigger, but that you OWN something AND it’s still bigger than your apt. was, than to keep complaining that you can’t afford a huge brownstone on Pres. St.

  • Dovid Mendel

    if we can find a place close enough for commute to NYC for work, Housing is affordable and enough families to participate to establish a mikve, chinuch for our children, a shule and grocery, i will definitely move. (Housing in CH is waaaayyyyyy to expensive).

  • Bigger Picture

    The NY metro area is extremely expensive anywhere you go. The approach should be to look OUTSIDE the metro NY area. Ideally this should be good states for business that are growing, affordable housing and good quality of life. TX, DE and others are a much better option.

    • close

      That is beside the point of this discussion. People want to keep their jobs…

  • But!!!!

    Who will be the new Rov??
    Maybe these guys can take one of the Kahn tzivahs and take a little bit of sunshine with him…..

  • Shocked

    This is the Rebbe’s Shchuna! How can you replace Kan Tziva Hashem Es Habracha just because of finances? Let me ask you this, if someone were to say it costs $1,000,000 to keep every old family picture, heirloom, and artifact you own, would you say “Oh wow, guess I’d better get some new memories then.” NO! That’s ridiculous! Family memories are precious! Chassidim Ein Mishpacha, and the Rebbe’s house, the Rebbe’s shchuna, is our shchuna too, so do you really want to replace that with cheap replicas? Do you want to replace gold with copper?

    • yehi rotzan

      Anyone I know would change 1 million for a family pic…not sur where u come from.

  • declasse' intelelctual

    #48 Get real for a change. There many of us who would never live in Crown heights for health reasons and I do not miss anything. I have over three hundred days of sunshine and not have to worry about the extreme cold and the snow affecting my ability to function or being under house arrest owing to the weather.
    Oh, you can state that there is such a special ruach in the area because there Rebbe was there, but seeing how the community acts, I wonder i.e,., is this Rabbi a Rabbi, the fight over local community politics and koshrus, who controls the synagogue, the disgusting acts of visiting students in 770. did I miss anything?????
    In my continuing professional life, I have traveled all over the world, and I can say that New York and its bourghs rank in all top list of the most dispictable places to live or visit.
    Sure, I am a Lubavitcher, but one who fdoes not live in the unreal world of Crown Heights.

  • Jason

    Agree with 53. Tri-state area isn’t affordable, not a great alternative. It may not be worth the move unless you go out of tri-state area.

  • chaim

    I hope you realize unaffordable housing follows jewish communities. Take a look at any city with a large jewish presents. look at the housing costs now compared to before it was heavily jewish compare those numbers to similar cities that were not and are not heavily populated by jews. You will notice both values rise but the property near the jews rises 30-40 times faster.

    • Jewish communities

      This is true, but for some of the young families, both parents working etc. CH is just out of reach. Did you see an ad for a condo today for $725,000, and one for $925,000????? Condos! What is your suggestion?

  • Adar Ben-Lapid

    I moved to Pittsburgh 8 years ago so that I can buy a home for my family and send my kids to a great Chabad school in a beautiful close community. B”H the Pittsburgh community is growing by leaps and bounds every year. Great school, great community. And now with a new shul established in the neighboring community, it’s just keeps getting better.
    email me at adar.benlapid@pittsburghmoves.com if you would like more info on our great family of Pittsburgh.

  • not so simple

    a well-intentioned group tried to do this in los angeles 4-5 years ago.
    they planned a development in the s. clarita area, appoximately 45 minute drive from LA. they even sold parcels with a 5k deposit.
    the plan fell apart real quick for a few reasons, the biggest problem was they promised to get a frum school up and running. when your community is built on people escaping high cost of living, they obviously don’t have spare money to help build a school system.
    the basic infrasctructure of a frum community is very difficult to replicate as they found out real quick.
    someone mentioned the litvish style communites in connecticut like brigewater, waterbury. I know some of the people involved there, and it’s not gan eden.

    a more practical idea for people looking for cheaper housing is an established place like New Haven, Pittsburgh, Chicago whom all have lower housing.
    However, chinuch will cost u the same if not more.

    • ask a rov

      Thank you for reminding me
      yes I did and He said in my case will be a good idea to move out

  • Fun Chaslavitch Kein Lubavitch

    I very rarely leave comments but I think most people are missing the boat. Look at the not such distant history of lubavitch in general and ch in particular. #1, Not all, actually most chassidim didn’t live in Lubavitch, Russia. yet there were many very powerful and chassidishe yidden in all the shetetalach around. #2 most chassidim lived in places like Brownsville which was close enough to walk in for a farbrengen but cheaper housing. I say both parties are right, this is a personal question for each individual family. you can’t generalize here. and tell someone else that their dicision is going against the Rebbe’s wishes. I for example left ch, and am planning to come back for many reasons. for myself i would pick expanding ch, just look at our neighbors in Williamsburg. all cheirim aside, the satmere yidden live all around Williamsburg yet close enough to walk to Rodney st. to the tisch if they wish. they can even live in ch if they want.

    We need to focus on being Lubavitchers- daven 3 times a day with a minyan, learn chassidus at least an hour a day. learn nigele, don’t go to sleep before finishing chitas and rambam, go to farbrengens yomei d’pagra, speak in Yiddish, be a shliach wherever you are. when people focus on the actual iker and not make the tofil the iker you’ll see ch and lubavitch as a whole will look much different. Lechaim!! Meine tayere brider un shevester. May we be zoche to beyas ha Moshiach teikif umyad mamash!! then all these questions will disappear!!

    • anon

      LOTS OF COMMON SENSE HERE! If we concentrate on expanding the borders of CH we’ll be doing what the Rebbe wants and finding gashmius more affordable

  • Manchester UK

    Manchester is the way forward, It has a ever growing group of young chassidisher ANASH, Affordable housing a brilliant school headed by the incredible Rabbi Vechter, kosher shops and over 50 Shulls
    Lets Go To Manchester!!!

    • Ck

      Manchester is a great community i spent two years teaching in the school there.
      The headmaster Rabbi Vechter really takes care of all the needs of all his staff.
      I would move back if my wife would agree.

  • Shloma Chaim

    What about the Rebbe’s words regarding the Yordim: Bei dem iz geven a g”naiva un bei dem iz geven a s”raifa and one individual less to worry about?

  • Milhouse

    As usual, people are quoting the Rebbe without any understanding of the historical context. The Rebbe never wanted Crown Heights to be some sort of prison camp or colony where all Lubavitchers must live. Back when Crown Heights was a diverse Jewish community, like Borough Park today, most Lubavitchers could not afford to live there, and the Rebbe had no problem with that. If you couldn’t afford Crown Heights you lived in Brownsville or East New York, or wherever else suited you and your budget.

    The whole point of the Rebbe’s campaign to save Crown Heights was to combat the block busters, the people who sold their houses to undesirable people and ran away, abandoning their neighbors to rising crime and plummeting property values. The Rebbe cited the clear din in Shulchon Oruch that it is forbidden to harm ones neighbours in such a way. And he insisted that if everyone stood together and stayed instead of running away, we could hold the line and keep Crown Heights Jewish. Well, everyone but Lubavitch ran away, so the Rebbe encouraged Lubavitchers to move in and rescue at least the core area. And the line was held, the blight did not spread to Flatbush and Borough Park.

    Now Boruch Hashem the situation is completely different. Property values are no longer falling, ve’aderabah, now people are complaining that they’re too high! A better class of goy is moving in, making the neighborhood safer. There’s no longer any need to rescue the neighborhood. If someone thinks they can live a better life somewhere else, they are not abandoning anyone nobody will be harmed by their leaving, so gei gezunterheit, and with the Rebbe’s brochos. You will be welcome when you come back to visit.

    By the way, if you’re not tied to a job in New York, Detroit is another place to consider. The cost of housing is unbelievably low, and it’s a wonderful warm community in which to raise children. The only real down side, apart from the cold climate, is the difficulty in finding jobs. But if you can find one then there are few better places in America to live a yiddishe life.

  • Shliach

    Come on over to Cordoba Argentina!
    daily minyan, mikveh, kosher grocery, beautiful gan and growing preschool, kosher catering, nice scenery, chasidisher envirement, warm community.
    Most affordable housing, for 250.000 you buy a nice house with an outdoor pool!
    To top it of, its just an overnight flight to NY!, you go to sleep and wake up to just a 10 min drive to the ohel!

  • silly billy

    Crown Heights is great….but dangerous.

    Random african americans got in my building and wanted monedy scaring her half to death, this place while special and holy is “NOT SAFE”…. PEOPLE ARE DELUSIONAL….How many people will let their children play outside after dark
    I grew in safe suburb where kids could be out after dark on the front lawn with nothing to worry about…..now I do not even let my wife walk at night….we live in a bad neighborhood….let us get real. and with prices so high, taxes so high, everything inconvenient, parking nightmares, small apartments many of which are dirty and infested by rodents, filthy streets, schools not as good as we think….stupid politics I have never even understood, That said there is nothing like shabbos in Crown Heights, but the rest of the week is realy hard. Oh and shabbos with no eruv or family we are stranded with a baby without ability to get fresh air….

  • MUST LOOK

    “….I think the criteria should be within an hour from Crown Heights, affordable housing, parks, public transportation to Manhattan etc” = MORRISTOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • HAROLD C.

    I GREW UP IN CROWN HEIGHTS ,GRADUATED PS167HUNG OUT ON THE PARKWAY WITH MY PALS MARRIED A GIRL FROM ST. JOHNS PL I LEARNED TO SPEAKK YIDDISH AT AN EARLY AGE . IT WAS SPOKEN IN THE MARKETS AND BY MY FRIENDS WHEN I GOT OLDER I WORKED AS A PAINTER/HANDYMAN WITH MY DAD AND GRANDFATHER. I DID WORK IN THE FIRST THREE BROWN STONES WEST OF TROY AVE ON E PKWAY .MRS. WISCOFF, RABBI PERLOW AND RABBI TWERSKY. THEY WERE OF COURSE JEWISH BUT NOT CHABBAD.I MARRIED BARBARA ,A JEWISH GIRL OVER THE OBJECTIONS OF BOTH SETS OF PARENTS (HER GRANDMA WAS THE MATRON AT THE UTICA MOVIE) WAS ON OUR SIDE. WE WENT ON TO HAVE THREE BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN AND 9 GRANDCHILDREN THE FIRST 7 WERE BOYS.WE WERE BLESSED .WE LEFT CROWN HEIGHTS AND SETTLED IN NJ AFTER OUR BOYS AGED 8 & 9 WERE MUGGED IN FRONT OF DUBROWS ONE AFTERNOON. MY FRIEND MARVIN LIVED AT 919 E PKWAY ,WALTER LIVED ON ST. JOHNS NEAR TROY..WE DON`T FOLLOW ANY RELIGION BUT WHEN I LOOK BACK AT MY LIFE I KNOW THAT WHATEVER FRCE CREATED ME STILL WATCHES OVER AND PROTECTS ME. HE WILL DO IT FOR YOU TOO IF YOU OPEN YOUR SELF TO HIM,HER OR IT. A WISE OLD MAN ONCE COMPLAINED THAT I DIDN`T WORSHIP THE CREATOR,”YOU WORSHIP THE CREATION” I HAD TO AGREE. EVERYTHING I KNEW OF THE CREATOR WAS WRITTEN BY A MAN WITH THE SAME WEAKNESSES AND PREJUDICES THAT BUT THE CREATION? THATS THE WORK OF HASHEM

  • i moved out of town

    with my family it’s been the best decision of our lives BH. There are many reasons families don’t do well in crown heights, not only financial. Crown heights is a shtetel, a very vibrant, insular and sometimes overbearing community. Some wonderful things about it but also some drawbacks. I find it dangerous to make blanket statements like, “the Rebbe wanted all lubavitchers except shluchim to live in crown heights” or “if you’re leaving you’re abandoning lubavitch.” That simply can’t be true. There is no one right thing for everyone (outside the realm of halacha). Some of the nicest lubavithers I know grew up outside crown heights in other jewish communities and it made them better lubavitchers. How can anyone say that this one place is the right place for everyone?

  • Who needs to buy??!!

    Let’s face it- buying a house is just not an option anymore . I’m 45 and spent the last decades struggling just to put food on the table and basic needs. I used to want a house like all my friends but it’s just not important to me anymore and I actually like renting as I see my friends with houses spend all their money on leaky roof , crumpling walls and plumbers where I have the freedom of traveling, shopping and eating out. I also have the peace of mind knowing if I ever did want to leave ch I have no ties here. In the meantime, schools are more affordable here , we don’t need a car, food gets delivered to my kitchen , love having manhattan , bp, flatbush parkslope and williamsburg all local. Socially who can beat feeling lonely and just stepping onto Kingston ave and bumping into friends from all over the world! I’ve lived abroad most my life and absolutely love this place!!

  • Ari

    I lived in CH for 25 years . I was a member of the Macabees with Rabbi Samuel Shrage .This was before Meir Kahane said he founded the organization .I think that it is time to take back CH and make it the community that it was in the 50’s and 60’s.

  • Hoboken and Jersey City

    Move to Hoboken or Jersey City NJ

    The path train from Jersey City to Lower Manhattan takes 6 minutes. We are in NYC geographically but outside of the city legally so taxes are lower. There is also a large and growing secular Jewish community in need of kiruv.
    There is a Chabad house in Hoboken, but none in Jersey City, and the community is there but underserved.

    Jersey City is far safer than Crown Heights, and cheaper as well.

  • A friend of the Jews

    This is not a comment however it’s very important to know the answers to these question below and to be proactive, If anyone has the answer to these questions please provide them?

    How many Lubavitcher families live in Crown Heights?

    How many Lubavitcher in total live in Crown Heights including students and gust?

    What is the current housing shortage? How many families are estimated to be in need of affordable housing in Crown Heights?