New York City’s Kristallnacht

Ed Koch called it "a pogrom." So did Rudy Giuliani. The Reverend Al Sharpton -- the chubby, agitating, last-century version -- led a march along the streets as rioting young blacks rampaged through the neighborhood looking for Jews and Jewish businesses to attack. Hasidim cowered behind their mezuzah-trimmed doors while the sluggish police ducked rocks and bottles. New York's first African-American mayor, the courtly David Dinkins, showed up, hoisted a bullhorn, and tried to pacify the mob.