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Please add profiles of people who were born, lived or died in (or were notable for their ties to) Fort Greene, Brooklyn.
Fort Greene is a neighborhood in the northwestern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Flushing Avenue and the Brooklyn Navy Yard to the north, Flatbush Avenue Extension and Downtown Brooklyn to the west, Atlantic Avenue and Prospect Heights to the south, and Vanderbilt Avenue and Clinton Hill to the east. The Fort Greene Historic District is listed on the New York State Registry and on the National Register of Historic Places, and is a New York City designated historic district.
The neighborhood is named after an American Revolutionary War era fort that was built in 1776 under the supervision of General Nathanael Greene of Rhode Island. General Greene aided General George Washington during the Battle of Long Island in 1776. Fort Greene Park, originally called "Washington Park" is Brooklyn's first. In 1864, Fort Greene Park was redesigned by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux; the park notably includes the Prison Ship Martyrs' Monument and crypt, which honors some 11,500 patriots who died aboard British prison ships during the American Revolution.
Fort Greene contains many examples of mid-19th century Italianate and Eastlake architecture, most of which is well preserved. It is known for its many tree-lined streets and elegant low-rise housing. Fort Greene is also home to the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower, which, for over 80 years, was the tallest building in Brooklyn. The neighborhood is close to the Atlantic Terminal station of the Long Island Rail Road and has access to many New York City Subway services.
Fort Greene is part of Brooklyn Community District 2, and its primary ZIP Codes are 11201, 11205, 11217, and 11238. It is patrolled by the 88th Precinct of the New York City Police Department. Politically it is represented by the New York City Council's 35th District. Fort Greene is a historically African-American neighborhood that has been significantly gentrified over the years, with the Black population decreasing from 41.8% in 2000 to 25.8% in 2017.
Notable people with ties to Fort Greene, Brooklyn, from Wikipedia:
Politicians and political activists
- Letitia James (born 1958), Attorney General of New York
- Hakeem Jeffries (born 1970), U.S. representative for New York's 8th congressional district
- Velmanette Montgomery (born 1942), State Senator
- Walter T. Mosley (born 1967), Assemblyman
- Eli Pariser (born 1980), activist and co-founder of MoveOn.org, Avaaz.org, and CEO of Upworthy
- Zephyr Teachout (born 1971), associate law professor at Fordham University and 2014 Democratic gubernatorial candidate
- Conrad Tillard (born 1964), politician, Baptist minister, radio host, author, and civil rights activist
Writers
- Helen Adam (1909-1993), Scottish poet, collagist and photographer
- Gwendolyn B. Bennett (1903-1981), Harlem Renaissance writer and artist
- Uli Beutter Cohen, documentarian
- Truman Capote (1924-1984), novelist
- Colin Channer, novelist
- Jennifer Egan, novelist
- Sasha Frere-Jones, writer and former music critic for The New Yorker
- Nelson George, music journalist and novelist
- Amitav Ghosh, novelist
- Clara Whitehill Hunt (1871-1958), children's novelist
- David Henry Hwang, playwright
- Jhumpa Lahiri, novelist
- Karan Mahajan, novelist
- Marianne Moore, poet who lived at 260 Cumberland Street from 1929 to 1966; Moore worshiped at the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church and fought to save the boathouse and camperdown elm in Prospect Park
- Carl Hancock Rux, novelist, poet, playwright, and recording artist
- John Steinbeck, novelist
- Adario Strange, writer-filmmaker
- Touré, novelist, music journalist and TV host
- Michael Weller, playwright
- Colson Whitehead, novelist, lived in the area early in his career
- Walt Whitman, poet who was influential in the creation of Fort Greene Park in 1843
- Richard Wright, novelist, wrote Native Son while living at 175 Carlton Avenue
Artists
Photographers and visual artists
- Ernest Crichlow (1914-2005), social realist artist
- Kyle DeWoody (born 1984/85), gallery owner and curator
- Akiko Ichikawa, artist and activist
- Gertrude Käsebier (1852-1934), photographer
- Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989), photographer
- Chris Ofili, artist
- José Parlá, artist
- David Salle, painter
- Ken Schles (born 1960), photographer
- Lorna Simpson, photographer
- Mickalene Thomas, visual artist
- Kara Walker, visual artist
- Carrie Mae Weems, photographer
- Robert Wilson, artist and theater director
Musicians
- Erykah Badu, musician
- Gary Bartz, musician
- Lester Bowie (1941-1999), musician
- Betty Carter, musician
- Steve Coleman, musician
- Carla Cook, musician
- Dana Dane, musician
- Slide Hampton, musician
- John Wesley Harding, singer
- El-P, underground hip-hop artist and founder of Definitive Jux Records; his album "I'll Sleep When You're Dead" was recorded at his residence in Fort Greene
- Ol' Dirty Bastard, rapper (deceased), grew up in Fort Greene
- Digable Planets, hip-hop group
- Free Murda, rapper, cousin of ODB and RZA
- Popa Wu, patriarch of the Wu-Tang Clan
- Just-Ice, rapper
- Lisa Fischer, musician, born in Fort Greene
- Mary Halvorson, guitarist
- Talib Kweli, rapper
- Vernon Reid, musician of Living Colour
- Chubb Rock, rapper
- Justine Skye, singer
- Patti Smith, musician, now lives in the Rockaways
- Cecil Taylor (1929-2018), jazz musician
- Johnny Temple, musician with the bands Soulside and Girls Against Boys
- Citizen Cope, musician
- Bill Lee, musician and father of Spike Lee; rented rooms on Carlton Avenue to musicians Eric Dolphy, Freddie Hubbard, Wes Montgomery, and Wayne Shorter
- Branford Marsalis, musician
- Toshi Reagon, musician
- Rev. Hezekiah Walker, musician
- Mos Def, actor, rapper
- John Flansburgh and John Linnell of the band They Might Be Giants
- Jalal Mansur Nuriddin, founding member of The Last Poets
TV and movie industry
Directors, producers, choreographers
- Alan Ball (born 1957), screenwriter and producer; creator and writer of Six Feet Under and True Blood
- Ernest Dickerson, film director and cinematographer
- Lee Hirsch, documentary filmmaker; writer-director of Amandla!: A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony (2002) and Bully (2011)
- Spike Lee, film director; lives now in Harlem but maintains his movie studio 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks there, and several of his films, including She's Gotta Have It, and She Hate Me were partially shot in Fort Greene
- Sonya Tayeh, (born 1977/78) choreographer
- Robert Verdi (born 1968), fashion stylist
Actors and performers
- Uzo Aduba (born 1981), Golden-Globe-winning star of Netflix's Orange Is the New Black
- Wyatt Cenac (born 1976), comedian, actor, producer and Emmy Award winning writer, who hosts and produces the HBO series Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas
- Adrian Grenier (born 1976), actor who now lives in Clinton Hill
- Gaby Hoffmann (born 1982), actress best known for her roles in Sleepless in Seattle, Transparent and Girls
- Holly Hunter (born 1958), actress
- Kyle Jean-Baptiste (1993-2015), actor
- Denis O'Hare (born 1962), actor
- Rosie Perez (born 1964), The View host and Academy Award-nominated actor
- Christina Ricci (born 1980), actress
- Chris Rock, now lives in Alpine, New Jersey
- Keri Russell
- Roger Guenveur Smith (born 1955), actor, director and writer
- Alek Wek
- Saul Williams, singer, musician, poet, writer, and actor (now lives in Paris)
- Jeffrey Wright
Athletes
- Taj Gibson (born 1985), NBA player
- Ronald Holmberg (born 1938), ranked World No. 7 in tennis 1960 and in the U.S. Top 10 for nine years
- Michael Jordan (born 1963), entrepreneur, owner/chairman of the Charlotte Hornets, and former NBA player
- Albert King (born 1959), former NBA player and younger brother of Bernard King
- Bernard King (born 1956), former NBA player
- Lia Neal (born 1995), 2012 US Olympic bronze-winning swimmer
- Mike Tyson (born 1966), professional boxer who was undisputed heavyweight champion from 1987-1990
Criminals
- Al Capone, born in Fort Greene
- Nicky Cruz, former leader of a notorious New York City gang, The Mau-Maus; later became a Christian evangelist
- Kelvin Martin, an infamous robbery expert and criminal also known as the original 50 Cent
Other notables
- Brigadier General (Brevet) Edward Brush Fowler, American Civil War; Commander, 14th Regiment, also known as the 14th Brooklyn, nicknamed the Red Legged Devils at the First Battle of Bull Run; for whom Fowler Square is named
- Georgianna Glose, Dominican religious sister and founder/director of the Fort Greene Strategic Neighborhood Action Partnership
- William Quan Judge, mystic, esotericist, and occultist, and one of the founders of the original Theosophical Society
- Dr. Susan McKinney Steward, first African American woman to receive a medical degree in New York State and the third in the U.S.