Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Please add profiles of people who were born, lived or died in (or were notable for their ties to) Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Since the late 1990s, Williamsburg has undergone significant gentrification, characterized by a contemporary art scene, hipster culture, and vibrant nightlife that has projected its image internationally as a "Little Berlin". During the early 2000s, the neighborhood became a center for indie rock and electroclash. Numerous ethnic groups inhabit enclaves within the neighborhood, including Italians, Jews, Hispanics, Poles, Puerto Ricans, and Dominicans.

Williamsburg is part of Brooklyn Community District 1, and its primary ZIP Codes are 11211 and 11206. It is patrolled by the 90th and 94th Precincts of the New York City Police Department. Politically, it is represented by the New York City Council's 33rd District, which represents the western and southern parts of the neighborhood, and the 34th District, which represents the eastern part. As of the 2020 United States census, the neighborhood's population is 151,308.

Notable current and former residents of Williamsburg from Wikipedia:

• Persis Foster Eames Albee (1836-1914) - first "Avon Lady"; moved out in 1866
• Joanna Angel (born 1980) - American pornographic film actress, director, and writer of adult films
• Red Auerbach (1917-2006) - former guard, NBA coach, and General manager who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame
• Vincent John Baldwin (1907-1979) - American prelate of the Catholic Church
• Gurdon H. Barter (circa 1843-1900) - U.S. Sailor and Medal of Honor recipient
• Joy Behar (born 1942) - comedian and co-host of The View (born in Williamsburg)
• James D. Bell (1845-1919) - American attorney from New York
• George C. Bennett (1824-1885) - English-American newspaper printer and politician
• Hans Hansen Bergen (circa 1610-1654) - one of the earliest settlers of the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam
• Meyer "Mike" Berger (1898-1959) - journalist for whom the Berger Award from the Columbia School of Journalism is named
• Mel Brooks (born 1926) - comedian (born in Williamsburg)
• Cathy Bissoon (born 1968) - United States District Court judge for the Western District of Pennsylvania
• Leonard Black (1820-1883) - Baptist minister, writer
• Joseph Bonnano (1905-2002) - Italian-American crime boss of the Bonnano crime family
• Giovanni Bonventre (1901-1970s?) - New York mobster with the Bonanno crime family
• Vito Bonventre (1875-1930) - mobster who was a leading member of the Brooklyn gang that would later become the Bonanno Crime Family
• Sully Boyar (1923-2001) - American actor of Russian-Jewish descent
• Steve Burns (born 1973) - former Blue's Clues host, actor, and musician
• Bill Cammeyer (1821-1898) - businessperson, pioneer in the early days of Major League Baseball
• John F. Carew (1873-1951) - American attorney and politician
• Alexa Chung (born 1983) - English model and television presenter
• Steve Cohn - attorney and a Democratic District Leader
• Stephen J. Colahan (1841-1874) - American attorney and politician
• Jabbar Collins (born 1972) - wrongly convicted of the second-degree murder of Orthodox rabbi Abraham Pollack, a crime he did not commit
• Ben Copperwheat (born 1975) - UK-born print designer / artist
• James J. Crawford (1871-1954) - American politician
• Peter Criss (born 1945) - of Kiss (childhood friend of Jerry Nolan, also a resident of Williamsburg) (born in Williamsburg)
• Sophia Delza (1903-1996) - American modern dancer, choreographer, author, and practitioner of Wu-style tai chi
• Raven Dennis (born 1967) - baker
• Dane DeHaan (born 1986) - actor, In Treatment, The Amazing Spider-Man 2
• Alan Dershowitz (born 1938) - lawyer, jurist, and political commentator
• Zecharia Dershowitz (1860-1921) - founded one of the first Yiddish communities in America
• Peter Dinklage (born 1969) - actor
• William J. Donohue (circa 1873-1907) - American politician from New York
• Ed Droste (born 1978) - lead singer for the indie rock band, Grizzly Bear
• Sean Durkin (born 1981) - film director
• Mose Durst (born 1939) - author, educator, and the former president of the Unification Church of the United States
• Simon Dushinsky, co-owner of the New York City-based Rabsky Group with his partner, Isaac Rabinowitz
• Will Eisner - comic artist for whom the Eisner Award is named, born and raised in Williamsburg
• Yom-Tov Ehrlich (1914-1990) - Hasidic musician, composer, lyricist, recording artist, and popular entertainer
• Angelo Falcón (1951-2018) - Puerto Rican political scientist
• Russell C. Falconer (1851-1936) - member of the Wisconsin State Senate
• Raoul Felder (born 1944) - American divorce and matrimonial attorney and author
• Deborah Feldman (born 1986) - American-born German writer
• Daphne Fitzpatrick (born 1964) - American artist
• Henry Foner (1919-2017) - 20th-century Jewish-American social activist
• Jack D. Foner (1910-1999) - American professor and historian best known for his work on the labor movement and the struggle for African-American civil rights
• Moe Foner (1916-2002) - New York labor leader
• Philip S. Foner (1910-1994) - American labor historian and teacher
• George L. Fox (1831-1910) - American lawyer, judge, and politician
• Melissa Freeman (born 1926) - Bronx-born physician who developed the use of methadone to treat heroin addiction
• Moshe Friedman (born 1972) - practicing Haredi Jew living in Antwerp
• Su Friedrich (born 1954) - filmmaker and Princeton University film professor
• Franky G (born 1965) - American film and television actor
• Daniel Fuchs (1909-1993) - American screenwriter, fiction writer, and essayist
• Michael Galinsky (born 1969) - American filmmaker, cinematographer, photographer, and musician
• Peaches Geldof (1989-2014) - British model and socialite
• Jack Gilford (1908-1990) - American Broadway, film, and television actor
• Irving Glickman (1914-1972) - American clinical researcher in the field of periodontology and author
• Yoel Goldman, founder of the Brooklyn, New York-based development company, All Year Management
• Al Goldstein (1936-2013) - American pornographer
• Eric Gonzalez (born 1969) - American attorney currently serving as the district attorney for Kings County
• Francine Gottfried (born 1947) - former clerical worker in New York City's Financial District, referred to as the "Wall Street's Sweater Girl" by the press
• James Graham (1847-1917) - American hatter and politician
• The Gregory Brothers - music group notable for Internet series, "Auto Tune the News"
• Yossi Green (born 1955) - Hasidic Jewish composer of contemporary Jewish religious music
• Yaakov Yechezkiya Greenwald II (born 1948) - American rebbe
• Yosef Greenwald (1903-1984) - second Rebbe of the Pupa Hasidic dynasty
• Lena Gurr (1897-1992) - American artist
• Mallory Hagan (born 1988) - American politician and former beauty pageant queen, former news anchor and business consultant
• Mordechai Hager (1922-2018) - rebbe of the Hasidic sect of Vizhnitz
• Isaac Hager, founder of the New York City-based Cornell Realty Management
• Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam (1905-1994) - rebbe of the hasidic dynasty of Sanz-Klausenburg
• Meissa Hampton - American independent film actress, writer, director and activist
• John Hanford (1817-1863) - American hatter, real estate agent, and politician
• Joseph Hanselman (1856-1923) - American Catholic priest
• Yisroel Dovid Harfenes - Haredi posek and scholar
• Randy Harrison (born 1977) - TV (Queer as Folk) and theatre actor
• Suki Hawley - American indie filmmaker
• Fishel Hershkowitz (1922-2017) - American Hasidic rabbi
• Eve Hewson (born 1991), actress who appeared in the film This Must Be the Place and played Nurse Lucy Elkins in Steven Soderbergh's TV series The Knick
• Dov Hikind (born 1950) - American politician, activist, and radio talk show host
• Candice Huffine (born 1984) - American model
• Leo Hurwitz (1909-1991) - American documentary filmmaker
• Oscar Isaac (born 1979), film and stage actor
• Stan Isaacs (1929-2013) - American sportswriter and columnist
• Harold M. Jacobs (1912-1995) - Jewish and civic leader
• Myles Kane (born 1979) - American film producer
• David Karp (born 1986) - creator of Tumblr
• Louis Kestenbaum, real estate developer, founder and chairman of New York City-based Fortis Property Group
• Vichna Kaplan (1913-1986) - Orthodox Jewish teacher and school dean who brought the Bais Yaakov movement to America
• Alex Karpovsky (born 1975) - American director, actor, screenwriter, producer and film editor
• Meilech Kohn (born 1969) - contemporary Jewish singer
• Zoë Kravitz (born 1988) - daughter of Lenny Kravitz
• Solly Krieger (1909-1964) - boxer
• Paysach Krohn (born 1945) - Orthodox Jewish rabbi, mohel, author, and lecturer on topics related to ethics and spiritual growth
• James Lafferty (born 1985) - actor, director and producer known for role as Nathan Scott on One Tree Hill
• Abe Lebewohl (1931-1996) - founder of the Second Avenue Deli
• Chaim Avraham Dov Ber Levine (1859/1860-1938) - known as "the Malach" (lit. "the angel"), was a rabbi and founder of the Malachim (Hasidic group)
• Samuel Liebmann (1799-1872) - German-born American brewer and founder of S. Liebmann Brewery (later Rheingold Breweries)
• Dovid Leibowitz (1887-1941) - leading rabbi and disciple of prewar Europe's Slabodka yeshiva in Lithuania
• Mark Lombardi (1951-2000) - American neo-conceptual artist
• Leonard Lopate (born 1940) - public radio talk show host
• Sid Luckman (1916-1998), NFL Hall of Fame football player
• Lisa Marie Ludwig - American visual artist and curator
• Isaiah L. Lyons (1843-1871) - American politician
• Barry Manilow (born 1943) - songwriter and performer
• Joseph Masri - target of the Kiryas Joel murder conspiracy
• Samantha Mathis (born 1970) - American actress and trade union leader who served as the Vice President, Actors/Performers of SAG-AFTRA from 2015 to 2019
• Bettina May (born 1979) - pin-up model and photographer
• John H. McCooey (1864-1934) - American politician, boss in the Democratic Party political machine of Brooklyn
• Jonas Mekas (1922-2019) - Lithuanian-American filmmaker, poet, and artist
• William E. Melody (1850-1916) - American politician
• Rosie Méndez (born 1963) - American Democratic politician
• Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz (1886-1948) - leader of American Orthodox Judaism
• Nicholas Mevoli (1981-2013) - American freediver
• Henry Miller (1891-1980) - novelist
• Alyssa Monks (born 1977) - American painter
• Keith Murray - singer from the band We Are Scientists
• Dominick Napolitano (1930-1981) - American Mafia caporegime in the Bonanno crime family
• Richie Narvaez (born 1965) - author of Hipster Death Rattle (born in Williamsburg)
• Mark Newgarden (born 1959) - American underground cartoonist
• Selig Newman (1788-1871) - Polish-born Hebraist and educator
• Jerry Nolan (1946-1992) - American rock drummer
• Oh Land (born 1985) - Danish musician, singer, songwriter, and dancer
• Milton Parker (1919-2009) - co-owner of the Carnegie Deli
• Michael Peters (1948-1994) - African American choreographer and director
• Doc Pomus (1925-1991) - American blues singer and songwriter
• Eliezer Zusia Portugal (1898-1982) - first Rebbe of Skulen
• Andrew J. Provost (1834-1925) - American lawyer and politician
• John Raber (1823-1902) - German-American businessperson and politician
• Man Ray - artist
• Buddy Rich (1917-1987) - drummer
• Edward J. Riegelmann (1869-1941) - American Democratic politician
• Frankie Rose (born 1979) - musician
• Winona Ryder - actress
• Mikheil Saakashvili - former president of Georgia, exiled in the U.S.
• John E. Sarno (1923-2017) - originated the term tension myositis syndrome (TMS) to name a psychosomatic condition producing pain, particularly back pain
• Nicolo Schiro (1872-1957) - early Sicilian-born New York City mobster who became the boss of what later become known as the Bonanno crime family
• Semi Precious Weapons, including Justin Tranter - glam rock band and their frontman
• Nathan D. Shapiro (1887-1969) - Russian-born Jewish-American lawyer and politician
• Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel - notable gangster who shaped up the Las Vegas strip (born in Williamsburg)
• Richard Sheirer - director of the New York City Office of Emergency Management (O.E.M.) during the September 11th attacks
• Gene Simmons - member of band Kiss
• Herb Simon (born 1934) - American real estate developer
• Melvin Simon (1926-2009) - American businessperson and film producer
• Anna Marie Skalka (born circa 1938) - American virologist, molecular biologist and geneticist
• Emilija Škarnulytė (born 1987) - visual artist and filmmaker
• Betty Smith (1896-1972), author best known for her 1943 novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
• James McCune Smith (1813-1865) - American physician, apothecary, abolitionist and author; he was the first African American to earn a medical degree
• Yisrael Spira (1889-1989) - senior member of Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah, and Holocaust survivor
• Menachem Stark (1974-2014) - murdered American real estate developer
• Yonasan Steif (1877-1958) - senior dayan of Budapest, Hungary, and world-renowned posek and halachic authority
• Abby Stein (born 1991), transgender activist, writer, and theorist who was born and raised in Williamsburg
• Jerry Stiller (1927-2020), comedian and actor
• Demas Strong (1820-1893) - American businessperson, lawyer, and politician
• Stuart Subotnick (born 1942), businessman and media magnate, among America's 500 wealthiest people and on The World's Billionaires list
• Charles W. Sutherland (1860-1943) - American newspaper editor and politician
• Joel Teitelbaum (1887-1979) - founder and first Grand Rebbe of the Satmar dynasty
• Moshe Teitelbaum (1914-2006) - Hasidic rebbe and the world leader of the Satmar Hasidim
• Zalman Teitelbaum (born 1951) - one of two Grand Rebbes of Satmar
• Emma Cecilia Thursby (1845-1931) - American singer
• Hannah Tompkins (1920-1995) - American artist
• Thomas Trantino (born 1938) - American convicted murderer
• Alex Turner (born 1986) English musician and member of Arctic Monkeys
• David Twersky (born 1940) - Grand Rabbi and spiritual leader of the village of New Square, New York, and of Skverer Hasidism worldwide
• Yakov Yosef Twersky (1899-1968) - past Grand Rabbi and spiritual leader of the village of New Square, New York, and of Skverer Hasidism worldwide
• Vincent Viola (born 1956) - American billionaire businessman
• William Wall (1800-1872) - American businessman, banker, and politician
• Mickey Welch (1859-1941) - nicknamed "Smiling Mickey;" American Major League Baseball pitcher
• Billy West (1853-1928) - professional baseball player
• Julius L. Wieman (1864-1902) - American politician
• Brad Will (1970-2006) - American activist, videographer and journalist
• Michael K. Williams (1966-2021), film and television actor, notable for his roles in The Wire and Boardwalk Empire
• Ella Wolfe (1896-2000) - Ukrainian-born American political activist and educator
• Anna Wood (born 1985) - actress
• Jacob Worth (1838-1905) - American politician
• Frederick W. Wurster (1850-1917) - politician, mayor of Brooklyn
• George Zettlein (1844-1905) - American professional baseball pitcher
• Nick Zinner (born 1974) - guitarist and photographer

References

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williamsburg,_Brooklyn