The neighborhood of Crown Heights is located near the center of Brooklyn, New York. This area was originally named Crow Hill in the early part of the century, and was renamed Crown Heights in 1916. The borders of Crown Heights extend all the way west to Washington Avenue, all the way east to East New York Avenue, all the way north to Atlantic Avenue, and all the way south to Empire Boulevard. Crown Heights is nearly two miles deep and two miles long and is close to other neighborhoods like Flatbush and Prospect Heights. Eastern Parkway is a well known two mile long street that runs through Crown Heights and is home to many well known locations such as 770, Prospect Park and the main branch of the Brooklyn Public Library.

A neighborhood of contrasts, Crown Heights has some beautiful areas with stunning architecture as well as empty and shabby buildings. Walking down the street, a visitor may run into a variety of people whose different styles of dress add character to the city - Hasidic Jews dressed in black suits with white shirts and black hats mingle among Afro-Caribbean residents dressed in brightly colored outfits. These days, you'll also find wealthier people in Crown Heights due to an increase in real estate value and the trend of people with higher incomes buying real estate in less prosperous neighborhoods.

Crown Heights is home to over 150,000 people. A good 90% of these residents are of African descent. Hasidic Jews make up the second largest group in the neighborhood at 9% of the total population. The remaining 1% of the population are from a variety of ethnic groups including Asian and Latino. Crown Heights is very well known in the Jewish world due to being the global headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement. The headquarters are located in 770 Eastern Parkway and thus the building is universally known as 770. Most Hasidim in Crown Heights live south of Eastern Parkway.

For religious Jews, there are plenty of shopping opportunities and restaurants to be found throughout Crown Heights. For example, South of Eastern Parkway has two pedestrian malls across the street from each other and plenty of independent stores. If you're thinking of visiting Crown Heights during a particularly busy time of year due to Jewish holidays and Hasidic events, make sure to book hotels way ahead of time because they tend to fill up quickly in this area.