In Your Neighborhood: Crown Heights

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - Originally known as Crow Hill, Crown Heights is in central Brooklyn, bordered by Prospect Heights, Flatbush, Brownsville, and Bedford Stuyvesant. From the 1920s to the 1960s, Crown Heights was predominately Jewish. But by the mid-1960s the neighborhood saw an influx of African and Caribbean Americans.

Many New Yorkers remember the racial tensions during Crown Heights riots in the early 1990s. Since then, the neighborhood has worked hard to rebuild its image.

Every year, Eastern Parkway plays host to the West Indian Day Parade, which pays homage to the neighborhood's Caribbean immigrants. Crown Heights is often called a great place to raise a family. The area's largest green space is Brower Park. But kids also rule at the Brooklyn Children's Museum and the Jewish Children's Museum. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Brooklyn Museum are also nearby.

Most streets are lined by either row houses or brownstones. Nostrand Avenue used to be part of the main shopping district, but it has been replaced by Franklin Avenue, where I found the general store Owl and Thistle.

You have lots of options when it comes to food, but if you're in the mood for Mexican cuisine, Chavela's is a must. This place was voted one of the top five Mexican restaurants in New York City.