BLM Protests, Eviction Woes: Crown, Prospect Heights 2020 Review

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — It was a year that started out like any other.

With familiar strange Brooklyn stories like a local artist navigating Gov. Andrew Cuomo's drawing skills, to bizarre crime moments like a pro-pigeon graffiti display on Grand Army Plaza, this thing called the "coronavirus" was not at the forefront of Crown and Prospect Heights' neighbors minds as 2020 began.

But that would soon change.

A once-in-a-century pandemic, a reckoning over race and policing, massive economic disruption and a contentious presidential election all made 2020 a year New Yorkers and the world will not soon forget.

As 2021 begins, Crown Heights-Prospect Heights Patch is taking a look back at the neighborhood's top stories of 2020:

Whistleblower Details Coronavirus Nursing Home Shortfalls

The coronavirus pandemic understandably dominated the headlines for all of New York City this year, as the city became the nation's "epicenter"of the pandemic.

As with many areas across the five boroughs, racial and economic inequity in New York City was laid bare by the way the virus hit certain neighborhoods. In Crown Heights and Prospect Heights, some areas were hard-hit while others made it through less scathed.

A divide also came as the city's Hasidic communities dealt with the pandemic and its restrictions. Large gatherings in the Orthodox Jewish community and, later, protests of the governor's shutdown orders drew national attention as rabbis and local leaders urged compliance and mourned losses.

'Mom And Pop' Crown Heights Pharmacy Fights Through Coronavirus

The devastation of 2020 was felt especially by the neighborhood's businesses, who were forced to shut down, and then adapt to pandemic restrictions.

Crown and Prospect Heights businesses did their best to fight through, though the economic toll of the coronavirus crisis meant saying goodbye to some local favorites.

But there were some bright spots. The year brought a new outdoor dining destination on Vanderbilt Avenue, which will likely return next season.

And, despite a hard year, neighbors found new opportunities, whether in the form of a truck full of watermelons or a restaurant built by family and friends in quarantine.

NYPD, Protesters Clash At Rally Over George Floyd Killing

As New Yorkers joined in nationwide protests after George Floyd's killing at the hands of police in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Barclays Center quickly became a makeshift town square, including the first night of demonstrations when an now-familiar scene of violence erupted as police and protesters clashed.

Throughout the summer, at least one police van was set on fire, an NYPD officer was filmed violently shoving a woman to the ground and walking away, among many other violent scenes throughout the day and night.

The borough also saw its own battle with gun violence as a shooting surge simultaneously took hold of the borough, including a mass shooting at an unofficial J'Ouvert celebration on Labor Day.

Brooklynites would take to the streets again in October and, for a more joyful demonstration, in November to celebrate the win of President-Elect Joe Biden.

Landlord Facing Crown Heights Rent Strike Again Named NYC's Worst

It wouldn't be Brooklyn without housing and development news.

This year, housing advocates struggled to keep neighbors facing the economic toll of the virus in their homes, even as moratorium banned most evictions in the state.

Activists also continued to organize against developments, whether it be at a school known as the "crown jewel" of Crown Heights or multiple fights amid a development boom near the Barclays Center.