GENTRIFICAÇÃO: O CASO DE WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN, NYC, USA.
From Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia
Acesso RAS 2019-11-04
Williamsburg
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Berry
Street
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Nickname(s):
The Willie
B, The Burg
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Location
in New York City
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Coordinates: 40.71°N
73.96°WCoordinates: 40.71°N
73.96°W
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Area
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• Total
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5.64 km2 (2.179 sq mi)
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Population
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• Total
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32,926
(113,000 with the subsections)
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Race/Ethnicity
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• White
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86.2%
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• Hispanic
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10.5%
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• Black
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2.4%
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• Asian
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0.1%
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• Other
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0.8%
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Economics
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$35,499
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11206,
11211, 11249
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718, 347, 929, and 917
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Website
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Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New
York City borough of Brooklyn,
bordered by Greenpoint to the north; Bedford–Stuyvesant to the
south; Bushwick and East Williamsburg to the east; and
the East
River to the west. As of the 2010 United States Census, the
neighborhood's population is 32,926.[3]
Since the late 1990s,
Williamsburg has undergone gentrification characterized
by a contemporary art scene, hipster culture, and
vibrant nightlife that
has projected its image internationally as a "Little Berlin".[5] During
the early 2000s, the neighborhood became a center for indie rock and electroclash.[6] Numerous
ethnic groups still 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.[1] It
is patrolled by the 90th and 94th Precincts of the New York City Police Department.[7][8] 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.[9]
HISTORY
Founding[edit]
In 1638, the Dutch West India Company purchased
the area's land from the Lenape Native Americans who occupied the area. In 1661,
the company chartered the Town of Boswijck, including land that would
later become Williamsburg. After the English takeover of New
Netherland in 1664, the town's name was anglicized to Bushwick. During colonial times, villagers
called the area "Bushwick Shore". This name lasted for about 140
years. Bushwick Shore was cut off from the other villages in Bushwick by
Bushwick Creek to the north and by Cripplebush, a region of thick, boggy shrub
land which extended from Wallabout
Creek to Newtown Creek, to the south and east. Bushwick residents
called Bushwick Shore "the Strand".[10]
Farmers and gardeners from the
other Bushwick villages sent their goods to Bushwick Shore to be ferried across
the East River to New York City for sale via a market at present day Grand Street. Bushwick Shore's favorable
location close to New York City led to the creation of several farming
developments. In 1802, real estate speculator Richard M. Woodhull acquired 13
acres (53,000 m²) near what would become Metropolitan Avenue, then North 2nd
Street. He had Colonel Jonathan Williams, a U.S. Engineer, survey the
property, and named it Williamsburgh (with an h at the end)
in his honor. Originally a 13-acre (53,000 m2) development within Bushwick
Shore, Williamsburg rapidly expanded during the first half of the nineteenth
century and eventually seceded from Bushwick and formed its own independent
city.[10]
Incorporation of Williamsburgh[edit]
Map of the Village of
Williamsburgh (1827)
Map of the Town of Williamsburgh
(1845)
Williamsburg was incorporated as
the Village of Williamsburgh within the Town of Bushwick in
1827. In two years it had a fire company, a post office and a population of
over 1,000. The deep drafts along the East River encouraged industrialists,
many from Germany, to build shipyards around Williamsburg. Raw material was
shipped in, and finished products were sent out of factories straight to the
docks. Several sugar barons built processing refineries. Now all are gone
except the now-defunct Domino Sugar (formerly Havemeyer & Elder). Other
important industries included shipbuilding and brewing.
On April 18, 1835, the Village of
Williamsburg annexed a portion of the Town of Bushwick. The Village then
consisted of three districts. The first district was commonly called the
"South Side"; the second district was called the "North
Side", and the third district was called the "New Village".[11] The
names "North Side" and "South Side" remain in common usage
today, but the name for the Third District has changed often. The New Village
became populated by Germans and for a time was known by the sobriquet of
"Dutchtown".[11] In
1845, the population of Williamsburgh was 11,500.[12]
Reflecting its increasing
urbanization, Williamsburg separated from Bushwick as the Town of
Williamsburg in 1840. It became the City of Williamsburg (discarding
the "h") in 1852, which was organized into three wards.
The old First Ward roughly coincides with the South Side and the Second Ward
with the North Side, with the modern boundary at Grand Street. The Third Ward was to the
east of these, stretching from Union Avenue east to Bushwick Avenue beyond
which is Bushwick (some of which is now called East Williamsburg).
INCORPORATION INTO
THE EASTERN DISTRICT
Brewers Row, North 11th Street
Bedford
Avenue and North 8th Street
In 1855, the City of
Williamsburg, along with the adjoining Town of Bushwick, were annexed into the
City of Brooklyn as the so-called Eastern District. The First Ward of
Williamsburg became Brooklyn's 13th Ward, the Second Ward Brooklyn's 14th Ward,
and the Third Ward Brooklyn's 15th and 16th Wards.[13]
During its period as part of
Brooklyn's Eastern District, the area achieved remarkable industrial, cultural,
and economic growth, and local businesses thrived. Wealthy New Yorkers such
as Cornelius Vanderbilt and railroad
magnate Jubilee Jim Fisk built shore-side mansions. Charles
Pratt and his family founded the Pratt
Institute, the great school of art & architecture, and the Astral
Oil Works, which later became part of Standard
Oil. Corning Glass Works was founded here
before moving upstate to Corning, New York. German immigrant,
chemist Charles Pfizer founded Pfizer
Pharmaceutical in Williamsburg, and the company maintained an
industrial plant in the neighborhood through 2007, although its headquarters
were moved to Manhattan in the 1960s.[14][15]
Brooklyn's Broadway, ending in the ferry to Manhattan,
became the area's lifeline. The area proved popular for condiment and household
product manufacturers. Factories for Domino Sugar, Esquire Shoe Polish, Dutch Mustard and many
others were established in the late 19th and early 20th century.[citation needed] Many of these
factory buildings are now being (or already have been) converted to
non-industrial uses, primarily residential.
The population was at first
heavily German, but many Jews from the Lower East side of Manhattan came to the
area after the completion of the Williamsburg Bridge in 1903. Williamsburg had
two major community banks: the Williamsburgh Savings Bank (chartered
1851, since absorbed by HSBC) and its rival the Dime Savings Bank of Williamsburgh (chartered
1864, now known as the DIME, has remained independent). The area around
the Peter Luger Steak House, established in
1887, in the predominantly German neighborhood under the Williamsburg Bridge,
was a major banking hub until the City of Brooklyn united with New York City.[16] One
of the early high schools in Brooklyn, the Eastern District High School, opened
here in February 1900.[17][18]
Incorporation into New York City[edit]
The Williamsburg Bridge connects the area with
Manhattan's Lower East Side
South Williamsburg streetscape
In 1898, Brooklyn became one of
five boroughs within the City of Greater
New York, and the Williamsburg neighborhood was opened to closer connections
with the rest of the newly consolidated city. Just five years later, the
opening of the Williamsburg Bridge in 1903 further opened
up the community to thousands of upwardly mobile immigrants and
second-generation Americans fleeing the overcrowded slum tenements of
Manhattan's Lower East Side.[19] Williamsburg
itself soon became the most densely populated neighborhood in New York City,
which in turn was the most densely populated city in the United States.[20] The
novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn addresses
a young girl growing up in the tenements of Williamsburg during this era.
Brooklyn Union Gas in the early
20th century consolidated its coal gas production
to Williamsburg at 370 Vandervoort Avenue, closing the Gowanus
Canal gasworks. The 1970s energy crisis led the company to
build a syngas factory.
Late in the century, facilities were built to import liquefied natural gas from overseas. The
intersection of Broadway, Flushing
Avenue, and Graham Avenue was a cross-roads for many "interurbans",
prior to World War I. These light rail trolleys
ran from Long Island to Williamsburg.
Refugees from war-torn Europe
began to stream into Brooklyn during and after World
War II, including the Hasidim whose
populations had been devastated in the
Holocaust. The area south of Division Avenue became home to a large
population of adherents to the Satmar Hasidic sect who came to the
area from Hungary and Romania.[21] Hispanics
from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic also began to settle in
the area. But the population explosion was eventually confronted with a decline
of heavy industry, and from the 1960s, Williamsburg saw a marked increase in
unemployment, crime, gang activity, and illegal drug use. Those who were able
to move out often did, and the area became chiefly known for its crime and
other social ills.[22][23]
On February 3, 1971, at
10:42 p.m., police officer Frank
Serpico was shot during a drug bust, during a stakeout at 778 Driggs
Avenue.[24] Serpico
had been one of the driving forces in the creation of the Knapp
Commission, which exposed widespread police corruption. His fellow officers
failed to call for assistance, and he was rushed to Greenpoint Hospital only
when an elderly neighbor called the police. The incident was later dramatized
in the opening scene of the 1973 film Serpico,
starring Al Pacino in the title role.[25]
GENTRIFICATION AND 2005 REZONING
The site of the former Domino Sugar Refinery, which is
being redeveloped for residential and commercial use, seen in 2018
Low rents were a major reason
artists first started settling in the area, but that situation has drastically
changed since the mid-1990s. Average rents in Williamsburg can range from
approximately $1400 for a studio
apartment to $1,600–2,400 for a one-bedroom and $2,600–4,000 for a
two-bedroom. The price of land in Willamsburg has skyrocketed.[26] The
North Side, above Grand Street, which separates the
North Side from the South Side, is somewhat more expensive due to its proximity
to the New York City Subway (specifically,
the L train and G train on the BMT
Canarsie Line and IND Crosstown Line, respectively). More recent
gentrification and the route of the M train (whose route was
modified to go from the downtown BMT Nassau Street Line to the
midtown IND Sixth Avenue Line in 2010), however,
have prompted increases in rents south of Grand Street as well. Higher rents
have driven out many bohemians and hipsters to other
neighborhoods farther afield such as Bushwick, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Cobble Hill, and Red Hook.[27][28][29]
On May 11, 2005, the New York City Council passed a
large-scale rezoning of the North Side and Greenpoint waterfront.[30] Much
of the waterfront district was rezoned to accommodate mixed-use high density
residential buildings with a set-aside (but no earmarked funding) for public
waterfront park space, with strict building guidelines calling for developers
to create a continuous two-mile-long string of waterfront esplanades.
Local elected officials touted the rezoning as an economically beneficial way
to address the decline of manufacturing along the North Brooklyn waterfront,
which had resulted in a number of vacant and derelict warehouses in
Williamsburg.
The Edge and Northside Piers
developments on Kent Avenue include some of the many high-rise condominium
buildings constructed as a result of the 2005 rezoning.
The rezoning represented a
dramatic shift of scale in the ongoing process of gentrification in
the area since the early 1990s. The waterfront neighborhoods, once
characterized by active manufacturing and other light industry interspersed
with smaller residential buildings, were re-zoned primarily for residential
use. Alongside the construction of new residential buildings, many warehouses
were converted into residential loft buildings. Among the first was the
Smith-Gray Building, a turn-of-the-century structure recognizable by its blue
cast-iron facade. The conversion of the former Gretsch music
instrument factory garnered significant attention and controversy in the New
York press primarily because it heralded the arrival in Williamsburg of
Tribeca-style lofts and attracted, as residents and investors, a number of
celebrities.[31][32][33][34]
Officials championing the
rezoning cited its economic benefits, the new waterfront promenades, and its
inclusionary housing component – which offered developers large tax breaks
in exchange for promises to rent about a third of the new housing units at
"affordable" rates. Critics countered that similar set-asides for
affordable housing have gone unfulfilled in previous large-scale developments,
such as Battery Park City. The New York Times reported
this proved to be the case in Williamsburg as well, as developers largely
decided to forgo incentives to build affordable housing in inland areas.[35]
LAND USE
Williamsburg contains a variety of zoning districts,
including manufacturing, commercial, residential, and mixed-use. North Williamsburg contains primarily light
industrial and medium-density residential buildings, as well as some
residential structures with commercial space on the ground floors. There are
also high-density residential developments with commercial space, as well as a
few remaining heavy industries, along the waterfront. The area around Broadway
is primarily commercial and contains stores and offices. On the other hand,
South Williamsburg is largely medium-to-high density residential with some
commercial space on the ground floors.[36]
LANDMARKED BUILDINGS
CITY LANDMARKS
Pentecostal church
Several structures in
Williamsburg have been landmarked by the city's Landmarks Preservation
Commission. The Kings County Savings Institution, chartered in 1860, built
the Kings County Savings Bank building
at Bedford Avenue and Broadway. The structure, an example of
French Second Empire architecture has been
on the National Register of Historic
Places (NRHP) since 1980 and was made a New York City landmark in
1966.[37]
The Williamsburg Houses were designated a city
landmark on June 24, 2003.[38] The
23.3-acre (94,000 m2) site, consisting of twenty 4-story buildings, was
designed by William Lescaze and was the first large-scale
public housing in Brooklyn. It was completed in 1938 and is operated by
the New York City Housing Authority.[39]
In 2007, three buildings of
the Domino Sugar Refinery were also
designated New York City Landmarks. The original refinery was built in 1856,
and by 1870 processed more than half of sugar used in the United States. A fire
in 1882 caused the plant to be completely rebuilt in brick and stone; these
buildings exist today, though the refinery stopped operating in 2004.[40] In
2010, a developer proposed to convert the site to residential use;[41] since
them, a new plan was approved for the Domino Sugar Factory, led by Two Trees
Management.[42]
The New England
Congregational Church and Rectory, built between 1852 and 1853, was listed
on the NRHP in 1983.[43] It
is also a city landmark.[44] The
church was sold to its current occupant, La Iglesia Pentecostal La Luz del
Mundo, in 1981.
One historic district also exists
in Williamsburg, the Fillmore Place
Historic District. Landmarked in 2009, it consists of several Italianate style buildings.[45][46]
National Register of Historic
Places listings[edit]
Numerous structures are also
located on the NRHP but are not city landmarks. The Austin, Nichols and Company
Warehouse, built in 1915 to a design by architect Cass
Gilbert, was placed on the NRHP in 2007.[47] Originally
also a city landmark, the designation was later rescinded. The warehouse was
converted to apartments in the 2010s.[48]
The German
Evangelical Lutheran St. John's Church was built in 1883 and made a
NRHP landmark in 2019.[49]
Public
School 71K, built in 1888-1889 to designs by James
W. Naughton, was made a NRHP landmark in 1982, though no longer serves as a
public school.[50]
The United States Post
Office, built in 1936 by Louis
A. Simon, was landmarked in 1988.[51]
CULTURE
Continental Army Plaza with the
statue of George Washington
Roman Catholic Church of the
Annunciation (1870, F. J. Berlenbach, Jr.),[52] North
Side
The subdivisions within
Williamsburg vary widely. "South Williamsburg" refers to the area
which today is occupied mainly by the Yiddish-speaking Hasidim (predominantly Satmar Hasidim) and a considerable Puerto Ricans population.
North of this area (with Division Street or Broadway serving as a dividing line) is an
area known as "Los Sures", occupied by Puerto Ricans and Dominicans. To the north of that is the
"North Side," traditionally Polish and Italian. East Williamsburg is home to many
industrial spaces and forms the largely Italian
American, African American, and Hispanic area
between Williamsburg and Bushwick. South Williamsburg, the South Side, the
North Side, Greenpoint and East Williamsburg all form Brooklyn Community Board 1. Its proximity
to Manhattan has made it popular with recently arrived residents who are often
referred to under the blanket term "hipster". Bedford Avenue
and its subway station, as the first
stop in the neighborhood on the BMT
Canarsie Line (on the L train), have become
synonymous with this new wave of residents.[53][54][55]
ETHNIC COMMUNITIES
HASIDIC JEWISH COMMUNITY
Williamsburg is inhabited by tens
of thousands of Hasidic Jews of various groups, and contains
the headquarters of one faction of the Satmar Hasidic group. Williamsburg's
Satmar population numbers about 73,000.[56]
Hasidic Jews first moved to the
neighborhood in the years prior to World
War II, along with many other religious and non-religious Jews who sought to
escape the difficult living conditions on Manhattan's Lower
East Side. Beginning in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the area received a
large concentration of Holocaust survivors, many of whom were Hasidic
Jews from rural areas of Hungary and Romania.[57] These
people were led by several Hasidic leaders, among them the rebbes of Satmar, Klausenberg, Vien, Pupa, Tzehlem, and Skver. In addition, Williamsburg contained
sizable numbers of religious, but non-Hasidic Jews. The Rebbe of
Satmar, Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum, ultimately exerted the most
powerful influence over the community, causing many of the non-Satmars,
especially the non-Hasidim, to leave. Teitelbaum was known for his fierce anti-Zionism and
for his charismatic style of leadership.[58]
In the late 1990s, Jewish
developers renovated old warehouses and factories, turning them into housing.
More than 500 apartments were approved in the three-year period following 1997;
soon afterward, an area near Williamsburg's border with Bedford–Stuyvesant was
rezoned for affordable housing.[59] By
1997, there were about 7,000 Hasidic families in Williamsburg, almost a third
of whom took public assistance.[60] The
Hasidic community of Williamsburg has one of the highest birthrates in the
country, with an average of eight children per family. Each year, the community
celebrates between 800 and 900 weddings for young couples, who typically marry
between the ages of 18 and 21. Because Hasidic men receive little secular education,
and women tend to be homemakers, college degrees are rare, and economic
opportunities lag far behind the rest of the population. In response to the
almost 60% poverty rate in Jewish Williamsburg, the Metropolitan Council on Jewish
Poverty, a beneficiary agency of the UJA-Federation of New York,
partnered with Masbia in the opening of a 50-seat kosher soup
kitchen on Lee Avenue in November 2009.[61]
There are many households
with Section 8 housing vouchers; in 2000, there were
1,394 voucher recipients in Williamsburg's nine Yiddish-speaking
census tracts, but by 2014, Williamsburg had 3,296 voucher recipients within 12
Yiddish-speaking census tracts.[59] In
2014, it was reported that Williamsburg's Jewish community had among the
highest rates of applications for Section 8 housing vouchers.[62] However,
the newspaper New York Daily News doubted the legality
of the applications. In 2016, the Daily News said that New York City
census tracts with 30% or more of the population applying for Section 8 were
present only in Williamsburg and scattered parts of the Bronx,
except that Williamsburg's real estate was among the most rapidly gentrifying
in the city.[59]
With the gentrification of North
Williamsburg, Hasidim have fought to retain the character of their neighborhood
and have characterized the influx of what they call the artisten as a
"plague" and "a bitter decree from Heaven".[63] Tensions
have risen over housing costs, loud and boisterous nightlife events, and the
introduction of bike lanes along Bedford
Avenue.[64] Although
gentrification is increasing, many developers such as Isaac
Hager continue to build more housing for Orthodox
Jewish tenants.[65]
ITALIAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY AND OUR LADY OF
MOUNT CARMEL
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Feast
A significant component of
the Italian community on the North Side were
immigrants from the city of Nola near Naples. Residents of Nola every summer celebrate
the "Festa dei Gigli" (feast of lilies) in honor of St. Paulinus
of Nola, who was bishop of Nola in the fifth century,[66] and
the immigrants brought this tradition over with them. For two weeks every
summer, the streets surrounding Our Lady of Mount Carmel church,
located on Havemeyer and North 8th Streets, are dedicated to a celebration of
Italian culture.[67]
The highlights of the feast are
the "Giglio Sundays" when a 100-foot (30 m) tall statue,
complete with band and a singer, is carried around the streets in honor of St.
Paulinus and Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Clips of this awe-inspiring sight are
often featured on NYC news broadcasts. A significant number of
Italian-Americans still reside in the area, although the numbers have decreased
over the years. Despite the fact that an increasing number of Italian-Americans
have moved away, many return each summer for the feast. The Giglio was the subject
of a documentary, Heaven Touches Brooklyn in July, narrated by
actors John Turturro and Michael
Badalucco.[67]
PUERTO RICAN AND DOMINICAN COMMUNITY
On Williamburg's Southside, also
known in Spanish as "Los Sures", which is the area south of Grand
Street, there exists a sizable Puerto Ricans and Dominican population. Puerto
Ricans have been coming to the area since the 1940s and the 1950s, and
Dominicans came in the '70s and '80s. Many Puerto Ricans flocked to the area
after World War II due to the proximity to jobs at
the Brooklyn Navy Yard.[68] The
neighborhood continues to have 27% Hispanic or Latino population, and Graham
Avenue between Grand Street and Broadway is known as the "Avenue of Puerto
Rico". Havemeyer Street is lined with Hispanic-owned 'bodegas' and barber
shops. However, even though the Southside has the highest concentration of
Hispanics in the neighborhood, this population is dispersed throughout all of
Williamsburg even as north as the Williamsburg-Greenpoint border.
The culture of Latinos in the
neighborhood has been described as a resilient one. The Caribbean Social Club,
the last remaining Puerto Rican social club in Williamsburg, preserves the
neighborhood's culture;[69] in
2013, the club was subject of a documentary called "Toñita's", named after its
owner.[70][71] The
Hispanic sector as a whole was represented in another documentary called Living
Los Sures, which aired at MoMA PS1 and
at the Metrograph theater; the movie documents the lives of Latino residents
living in 1984 Southside before gentrification.[72]
Another such institution is the
"El Puente" Community Center,[73] as
well as the "San German" record store on Graham Avenue. Graham Avenue
was renamed Avenue of Puerto Rico as a symbol of pride, just as the avenue's
other alternate name, Via Vespucci, is meant to commemorate the historical
Italian-American community.[74] Banco
Popular de Puerto Rico has a branch on Graham Avenue. In addition,
Southside United HDFC is a charity organization that helps residents with
housing needs and other services, including mobilizing housing activists and
residents as well as providing affordable housing.[75] In
addition to this, in the past Southside United HDFC has held Puerto Rican
Heritage as well as Dominican Independence Day celebrations, and currently
operates El Museo De Los Sures.[76][77] The
name El Museo De Los Sures roughly translates to "The Museum of the
Southside". Williamsburg is also home to not one, but two campuses
of Boricua College, the Northside campus on North 6th
Street between Bedford Avenue and Driggs Avenue, as well as the East
Williamburg/Bushwick campus on Graham Avenue.[78] A
place popular among Dominican-American residents is the Fula Lounge, where
Merengue and Raggaeton artists from the Dominican Republic often frequent.[citation needed]
Lastly, once a year the
Williamsburg/Bushwick community
is home to its own Puerto Rican Day parade.[79] The
neighborhood has produced many prominent Latinos. Television chef Daisy
Martinez, who specializes in Puerto Rican cuisine grew up in the
neighborhood.[80][81] The
neighborhood also is home to the office of Congressional Representative Nydia
Velazquez, who represents the neighborhood as well as other parts of
Brooklyn and Manhattan in congress.[82] In
addition to this, Williamsburg was the childhood home of City
Councilwoman Rosie Méndez, of Puerto Rican descent,
who represents District 2 across the East River in Manhattan.[83] As
of 2013, Williamsburg itself is represented in City Council by Dominican American Antonio
Reynoso.[84][85]
ETHNIC AND INTERCULTURAL TENSIONS
About 2 o'clock on November 7,
1854, a riot occurred between sheriffs and "some Irishmen" at the
poll of the First District at the corner of 2nd and North 6th streets in
Williamsburg. It began after a deputy approached a citizen and a fight started.
Immediately eight or ten deputies began freely using clubs on a group of
"about one hundred Irishmen," resulting in a half-hour general fight
and many injuries.[86]
Prior to gentrification,
Williamsburg often saw tension between its Hasidic population and its black and
Hispanic groups. In response to decades of rising crime in the area, the
Hasidim created a volunteer patrol organization called "Shomrim"
("guardians" in Hebrew) to perform citizens' arrests and to keep an
eye out for crime.[87] Over
the years, the Shomrim have been accused of racism and brutality against blacks
and Hispanics. In 2009, Yakov Horowitz, a member of Shomrim, was charged with
assault for striking a Latino adolescent on the nose with his Walkie Talkie.[88] In
2014, five members of the Hasidic community, at least two of whom were Shomrim
members, were arrested in connection with the December 2013 "gang
assault" of a black gay man.[89]
The mid-century tension between
the Hasidic and Modern Orthodox Jewish communities in Williamsburg was depicted
in Chaim
Potok's novels The Chosen (1967), The Promise, and My Name Is Asher Lev.[90] One
contemporary female perspective on life in the Satmar community in Williamsburg
is offered by Deborah Feldman's autobiographical Unorthodox: The
Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots.[91]
ARTS COMMUNITY
VISUAL ARTS
Street graffiti in East Williamsburg
The first artists moved to
Williamsburg in the 1970s, drawn by the low rents, large floor area, and
convenient transportation. This continued through the 1980s and increased
significantly in the 1990s as earlier destinations such as SoHo and
the East Village became gentrified.
The community was small at first, but by 1996 Williamsburg had accumulated an
artist population of about 3,000.[92] Art
galleries in the area include the Front Room Gallery. Williamsburg and Greenpoint are served by a monthly
galleries listings magazine, wagmag.
In September 2000, 11211
Magazine, created by writer Breuk
Iversen,[93] launched
a four color glossy circulating 10,000 copies in Brooklyn and Manhattan, intent
on promoting the area from a design firm in Manhattan. A year later, the firm
moved to Williamsburg. The content was richly focused on the historical and
notable properties, arts and culture and real estate development of the 11211
ZIP code. The bi-monthly was funded by advertisements from local businesses and
founded by writer and designer, Breuk
Iversen. Other publications attributed to 11211 Magazine: Fortnight, The
Box Map (2002), Appetite, and 10003 Magazine for the East
Village in New York City. The magazine had published 36 issues (548,000 copies)
of 11211 over a six-year period, and ceased circulation in 2006.
MUSICAL COMMUNITY
A local bowling center also
presents musical performances
Williamsburg has become a notable
home for live music and an incubator for new bands. Beginning in the late
1980s, and through the late 1990s, a number of unlicensed performance, theater,
and music venues operated in abandoned industrial buildings and other spaces in
the streets.[94] A
new culture has evolved in the area surrounding Bedford Avenue subway
station.[95] The
Bog, Keep Refrigerated, The Lizard's Tail, Quiet Life, Rubulad, Flux Factory,
Mighty Robot, free103point9 and others attracted a mix of artists, musicians
and urban underground for late night music, dance, and performance events,
which were occasionally interrupted and the venues temporarily closed by the
fire department.[96] These
events eventually diminished in number as the rents rose in the area and
regulations were enforced.[97][98]
There are a number of smaller,
fleeting spaces,[99] including Todd P.,[100] Dot
Dash,[101] Twisted
Ones,[102] and
Rubulad.[99] Many
legitimate commercial music venues opened in the neighborhood including Pete's
Candy Store,[103] Union
Pool,[104] Music
Hall of Williamsburg (formerly Northsix), Public Assembly (formerly Galapagos,
now closed), Cameo Gallery, Muchmore's, and Grand Victory. Several
Manhattan-based venues also opened locations, including Bowery Presents (who
bought Northsix and transformed it to Music Hall of Williamsburg), Luna
Lounge, Knitting Factory, and Cake Shop. In the summers of 2006,
2007, and 2008, events including concerts, movies, and dance performances were
staged at the previously abandoned pool at McCarren
Park in Greenpoint. Starting 2009, these pool parties
are now held at the Williamsburg waterfront.[105]
The neighborhood has also
attracted a respectable funk, soul and worldbeat music
scene spearheaded by labels such as Daptone and Truth & Soul Records – and
fronted by acts such as the Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra and Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings. Jazz and World
Music has found a foothold, with classic jazz full-time at restaurant
venues like Zebulon and Moto, and – on the more avant and noise side –
at spots like the Lucky Cat, B.P.M., Monkeytown (closed in 2010),[106] and
Eat Records. A Latin Jazz community continues amongst the
Caribbean community in Southside and East Williamsburg, centered around the
many social clubs in the neighborhood. In the early 2000s,
the neighborhood also became a center of electroclash.[107] Friday
and Saturday parties at Club Luxx (now Trash) introduced electronic acts like
W.I.T., A.R.E. Weapons, Fischerspooner,
and Scissor Sisters.[108]
THEATRE AND CINEMA
From left to right: Linda
Hamilton, Jane Lynch and Carol
Leifer at the Williamsburg Independent Film Festival in 2016
Williamsburg contains indie
theater spaces such as the
Brick Theater and the Charlie Pineapple Theater. The Williamsburg Independent
Film Festival was founded in 2010.[109][110][111] Williamsburg
also contains the first-run multiplex theater known as Williamsburg Cinemas, which opened on December
19, 2012.[112]
EFFECTS OF GENTRIFICATION
Williamsburg skyline, looking
east.
Low rents were a major reason
artists first started settling in the area, but that situation has drastically
changed since the mid-1990s. Average rents in Williamsburg can range from
approximately $1,400 for a studio
apartment to $1,600–2,400 for a one-bedroom and $2,600–4,000 for a
two-bedroom. The price of land in Williamsburg has skyrocketed.[26] The
North Side, above Grand Street, which separates the North
Side from the South Side, is somewhat more expensive due to its proximity to
the New York City Subway (specifically,
the L train and G train on the BMT
Canarsie Line and IND Crosstown Line, respectively).
More recent gentrification and
the route of the M train (whose route was
modified to go from the downtown BMT Nassau Street Line to the
midtown IND Sixth Avenue Line in 2010), however,
have prompted increases in rent prices south of Grand Street as well. Higher
rents have driven many priced-out bohemians and hipsters to find new
creative communities further afield in areas like Bushwick, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Cobble Hill, and Red Hook.[27][28][29] On
July 1, 2011, the United States Postal Service (USPS)
split the 11211 zip code due to a "large increase in population and in the
number of companies doing business in our area."[113]
Williamsburg's gentrification is
the subject of Princeton University film professor Su
Friedrich's 2013 documentary Gut Renovation.[114]
EFFECT ON BOROUGH'S COURT SYSTEM
In June 2014, the New
York Post reported that northwestern Brooklyn's change to a wealthier,
more educated population, especially in Williamsburg, has led to an increasing
number of convictions against defendants in the borough's criminal cases, as well as to
reductions in plaintiff's awards in civil cases. Brooklyn defense lawyer Julie
Clark said that these new jurors are "much more trusting of police".
Another lawyer, Arthur Aidala said:
"Now, the grand juries have
more law-and-order types in there. ... People who can afford to live in
Brooklyn now don't have the experience of police officers throwing them against
cars and searching them. A person who just moves here from Wisconsin or
Wyoming, they can't relate to [that]. It doesn't sound credible to them."[115]
DEMOGRAPHICS
Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, the population
of Williamsburg was 32,926, an increase of 657 (2.0%) from the 32,269 counted
in 2000. Covering an area of 266.08 acres
(107.68 ha), the neighborhood had a population density of 123.7
inhabitants per acre (79,200/sq mi; 30,600/km2).[3]
The racial makeup of the
neighborhood was 86.2% (28,366) White, 2.4% (793) African American, 0.1% (29) Native American, 0.1% (48) Asian, 0.0% (2) Pacific Islander, 0.2% (77)
from other races, and 0.5% (152) from two or
more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 10.5% (3,459) of
the population.[4]
The entirety of Community Board
1, which comprises Greenpoint and Williamsburg, had 199,190 inhabitants as
of NYC Health's
2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 81.1 years.[116]:2,
20 This is about the same as the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all
New York City neighborhoods.[117]:53
(PDF p. 84)[118] Most
inhabitants are middle-aged adults and youth: 23% are between the ages of 0–17,
41% between 25–44, and 17% between 45–64. The ratio of college-aged and elderly
residents was lower, at 10% and 9% respectively.[116]:2
As of 2016, the median household
income in Community Board 1 was $76,608.[119] In
2018, an estimated 17% of Greenpoint and Williamsburg residents lived in
poverty, compared to 21% in all of Brooklyn and 20% in all of New York City.
Less than one in fifteen residents (6%) were unemployed, compared to 9% in the
rest of both Brooklyn and New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of
residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 48% in Greenpoint and
Williamsburg, higher than the citywide and boroughwide rates of 52% and 51% respectively.
Based on this calculation, as of 2018, Greenpoint and Williamsburg are
considered to be gentrifying.[116]:7
POLICE AND CRIME
The majority of Williamsburg is
patrolled by the 90th Precinct of the NYPD, located at 211 Union Avenue,[7] while
the northernmost section of Williamsburg falls under the 94th Precinct, located
at 100 Meserole Avenue.[8] The
90th Precinct ranked 47th safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in
2010,[120] and
the 94th Precinct ranked 50th safest for per-capita crime.[121] With
a non-fatal assault rate of 34 per 100,000 people, Greenpoint and
Williamsburg's rate of violent crimes per capita is less than that of the city
as a whole. The incarceration rate of 305 per 100,000 people is lower than that
of the city as a whole.[116]:8
The 90th Precinct has a lower
crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having
decreased by 72.3% between 1990 and 2018. The precinct saw 4 murders, 16 rapes,
198 robberies, 237 felony assaults, 229 burglaries, 720 grand larcenies, and 90
grand larcenies auto in 2018.[122] The
94th Precinct also has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across
all categories having decreased by 72.9% between 1990 and 2018. The precinct
saw 1 murder, 6 rapes, 63 robberies, 115 felony assaults, 141 burglaries, 535
grand larcenies, and 62 grand larcenies auto in 2018.[123]
FIRE SAFETY
The New York City Fire Department (FDNY)
operates four fire stations in Williamsburg:[124]
Engine Co. 211/Ladder Co. 119 –
26 Hooper Street[125]
Engine Co. 216/Ladder Co.
108/Battalion 35 – 187 Union Avenue[126]
Engine Co. 221/Ladder Co. 104 –
161 South 2nd Street[127]
Engine Co. 229/Ladder Co. 146 –
75 Richardson Street[128]
HEALTH
Preterm and
teenage births are less common in Greenpoint and Williamsburg than in other
places citywide. In Greenpoint and Williamsburg, there were 54 preterm births
per 1,000 live births (the lowest in the city, compared to 87 per 1,000
citywide), and 16.0 teenage births per 1,000 live births (compared to 19.3 per
1,000 citywide).[116]:11 Greenpoint
and Williamsburg has a relatively low population of residents who are uninsured, or who
receive healthcare through Medicaid.[129] In
2018, this population of uninsured residents was estimated to be 7%, which is
lower than the citywide rate of 12%.[116]:14
The concentration of fine
particulate matter, the deadliest type of air
pollutant, in Greenpoint and Williamsburg is 0.0096 milligrams per cubic
metre (9.6×10−9 oz/cu ft), higher than the citywide and boroughwide
averages.[116]:9 Seventeen
percent of Greenpoint and Williamsburg residents are smokers, which
is slightly higher than the city average of 14% of residents being smokers.[116]:13 In
Greenpoint and Williamsburg, 23% of residents are obese, 11%
are diabetic, and 25% have high blood
pressure—compared to the citywide averages of 24%, 11%, and 28%
respectively.[116]:16 In
addition, 23% of children are obese, compared to the citywide average of 20%.[116]:12
Ninety-one percent of residents
eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is greater than the city's
average of 87%. In 2018, 79% of residents described their health as
"good," "very good," or "excellent," more than
the city's average of 78%.[116]:13 For
every supermarket in Greenpoint and Williamsburg, there are 25 bodegas.[116]:10
There are several medical clinics
in Williamsburg. The nearest large hospital is Woodhull Medical Center, on Williamsburg's
southern border with Bedford–Stuyvesant.[129]
INCIDENTS
In April 2019, after a measles outbreak in Williamsburg
infected over 250 people, mandatory measles shots were ordered in the area.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said people in the neighborhood
ignoring the order could be fined $1,000, and that religious schools and day
care programs might be closed down if they did not exclude unvaccinated
students.[130][131] The
outbreak in Brooklyn had been tied to an unvaccinated child who contracted the
disease on a trip to Israel.[132]
POST OFFICES AND ZIP CODES
USPS Metropolitan Station
Williamsburg is covered by
three ZIP
Codes. Most of the neighborhood is in 11211, though the southeastern
portion is in 11206, and the far western portion along the East River is in
11249.[133] The United States Postal Service operates
two post offices in Williamsburg: the Williamsburg Station at 263 South 4th
Street,[134] and
the Metropolitan Station at 47 Debevoise Street.[135]
EDUCATION
Greenpoint and Williamsburg
generally has a higher ratio of college-educated residents than the rest of the
city. Half of the population (50%) has a college education or higher, 17% have
less than a high school education and 33% are high school graduates or have
some college education. By contrast, 40% of Brooklynites and 38% of city
residents have a college education or higher.[116]:6 The
percentage of Greenpoint and Williamsburg students excelling in reading and
math has been increasing, with reading achievement rising from 35 percent in
2000 to 40 percent in 2011, and math achievement rising from 29 percent to 50
percent within the same time period.[136]
Greenpoint and Williamsburg's
rate of elementary school student absenteeism is slightly higher than the rest
of New York City. In Greenpoint and Williamsburg, 21% of elementary school
students missed twenty or more days per school
year, compared to the citywide average of 20% of students.[117]:24
(PDF p. 55)[116]:6 Additionally,
77% of high school students in Greenpoint and Williamsburg graduate on time,
higher than the citywide average of 75% of students.[116]:6
SCHOOLS
PS 18, at Leonard and Maujer
Streets
The New York City Department of
Education operates public schools as part of District 14. The
following public elementary
schools in Williamsburg serve grades PK-5 unless otherwise noted:[137]
PS 16 Leonard Dunkly[138]
PS 17 Henry D. Woodworth[139]
PS 18 Edward Bush[140]
PS 84 Jose de Diego (grades PK-8)[141]
PS 132 Conselyea[142]
PS 147 Isaac Remsen, an empowerment school[143]
PS 196 Ten Eyck[144]
PS 250 George H. Lindsay[145]
PS 257 John F. Hylan[146]
PS 319 Walter Nowinski[147]
PS 380 John Wayne Elementary[148]
Public middle and high schools
include Brooklyn Latin School (a specialized high school serving
grades 9-12)[149] and IS 318 Eugenio Maria De Hostos
(serving grades 6-8).[150] The
Grand Street Campus (formerly Eastern District High School) contains
the High School of
Enterprise, Business, & Technology (EBT), Progress High School for
Professional Careers, High School for Legal Studies. The Harry Van Arsdale
Educational Complex houses three small high schools that offer academics, and a
curriculum and faculty for their special needs populations: Williamsburg High
School for Architecture and Design, Williamsburg Preparatory School, Brooklyn Preparatory High School.
The Young Women's Leadership School of Brooklyn aims to instill qualities of
leadership in girls.[137] There
are several bilingual public schools in Williamsburg, including PS 84 Jose De
Diego (offering Spanish-English), PS 110 The Monitor School (offering
French-English), and Juan Morel Campos Secondary School (offering
Yiddish-English).[151]
Other schools in Williamsburg
include El Puente Academy for Peace and
Justice[152] and
the Ethical Community Charter School. Success Academy Williamsburg opened
in August 2012.[153][154] It
is a public charter school. Williamsburg
Collegiate Charter School, a consistently top-performing charter school[155] in
New York City, is located on the South side. Williamsburg Northside Schools are
three Reggio Emilia-inspired schools that have three
distinct programs within three locations: Infant and Toddler Center,
Williamsburg Northside Preschool, and Williamsburg Northside Lower School.
LIBRARIES
The BPL Williamsburgh branch
The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) has two
branches in Williamsburg. The Williamsburgh branch is located at 240 Division
Avenue near Marcy Avenue. It is housed in a 26,000-square-foot (2,400 m2) Carnegie
library structure that is one of Brooklyn's largest
circulating-library buildings, and is a New York City
designated landmark.[156] The
Leonard branch is located at 81 Devoe Street near Leonard Street. It is located
in a 26,000-square-foot (2,400 m2) building that opened in 1908. The
Leonard branch contains a tribute to Betty
Smith, the author of the novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, whose
main character Francie frequently visited the library.[157]
TRANSPORTATION
Trains entering and leaving Marcy Avenue station
Williamsburg is served by
several New York City Subway routes. There are
three physical lines through the neighborhood: the BMT
Canarsie Line (L train) on the north,
the BMT Jamaica Line (J, M, and Z trains) on the south, and
the IND Crosstown Line (G train) on the east.[158] The Williamsburg Bridge crosses the East River to
the Lower East Side. Williamsburg is also
served by the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway. Several bus
routes, including the B24, B32, B39, B44, B44 SBS, B46, B60, Q54 and Q59 terminate at the Williamsburg Bridge/Washington
Plaza. Other bus lines that run through the neighborhood include the B43, B48, B62 and B67.[159]
In June 2011, NY
Waterway started service to points along the East River.[160] On
May 1, 2017, that route became part of the NYC Ferry's
East River route, which runs between Pier 11/Wall Street in Manhattan's Financial District and the East 34th Street Ferry Landing in Murray Hill, Manhattan, with five
intermediate stops in Brooklyn and Queens.[161][162] Two
of the East River Ferry's stops are in Williamsburg.[163]
There are plans to build
the Brooklyn–Queens Connector (BQX), a
light rail system that would run along the waterfront from Red Hook through Williamsburg to Astoria in Queens. However,
the system is projected to cost $2.7 billion, and the projected opening has been
delayed until at least 2029.[164][165]
ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS
El Puente, a local community
development group, called Williamsburg "the most toxic place to live in
America" in the documentary Toxic Brooklyn produced by Vice
Magazine in 2009.[166] Other
rare cancer clusters in Willamsburg have been reported by the New
York Post.[167]
BROOKLYN NAVY YARD INCINERATOR PLAN
In 1976, Mayor Abraham
Beame proposed building a combined incinerator and power plant at the
nearby Brooklyn Navy Yard.[168] The
project garnered large community opposition from the Latino and Hasidic
Jewish residents of southern Williamsburg, located next to the site of
the proposed incinerator.[169] Though
the New York City Board of Estimate narrowly
gave its approval to the incinerator in 1984,[170] the
state refused to grant a permit for constructing the plant for several years,
citing that the city had no recycling plan.[171] The
proposed incinerator was a key issue in the 1989 mayoral election because
the Hasidic Jewish residents of Williamsburg who opposed the incinerator were
also politically powerful.[172] David
Dinkins, who ultimately won the 1989 mayoral election, campaigned on the
stance that the Brooklyn Navy Yard incinerator plan should be put on hold.[173] The
state denied a permit for the incinerator in 1989, stating that the city had no
plan for reducing ash emissions from the plant.[174]
The plan was placed on hold for
several years, and in 1995, community members filed a lawsuit to block the
incinerator's construction.[175][176] Further
investigation of the incinerator's proposed site found toxic chemicals were
present in such high levels that the site qualified for Superfund environmental
cleanup.[177] The
next year, the city dropped plans for the construction of the incinerator
altogether.[178]
BUSHWICK INLET PARK SITE
National
Grid (formerly KeySpan) is remediating contamination at a former
Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP) site located at Kent Avenue between North 11th and
North 12th Streets in Williamsburg. The Remediation is being performed in
conversion for the site's conversion into Bushwick Inlet Park. It is being implemented
under an order of consent with the New York State
Department of Environmental Conservation entered into between the
NYSDEC and KeySpan in February 2007. [179]
There are also ten oil storage
tanks on the site of Bushwick Inlet Park that were formerly operated by Bayside Oil.[180] A
plan unveiled in 2016, called "Maker Park", would convert the oil
tankers into attractions such as a theater and hanging gardens.[181][182][183] It
directly conflicted with the original plan for Bushwick Inlet Park, which would
see the tankers demolished.[182][183] The
city stated that the oil tankers were heavily polluted, and that the site
needed to be cleaned before it could be repurposed into a park.[184]
NOTABLE RESIDENTS
Hall of Famer Red
Auerbach
Zalman
Teitelbaum, the Satmar Rebbe
For more people, see Category:People from
Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Persis Foster Eames Albee (1836-1914) –
first "Avon Lady"; moved out in 1866[185]
Red
Auerbach (1917-2006) – former guard, NBA coach and General manager
who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.[186]
Mel Brooks (born
1926) – comedian (born in Williamsburg).[188]
Cathy
Bissoon (born 1968) – United States District Court judge for the
Western District of Pennsylvania.[189]
Steve
Burns (born 1973) – former Blue's
Clueshost, actor, musician.[190]
Alexa
Chung (born 1983) – English model and television presenter[191]
Peter
Criss (born 1945) – of Kiss (childhood
friend of Jerry Nolan, also a resident of Williamsburg) (born in Williamsburg).[192]
Raven
Dennis (born 1967) - baker
Dane
DeHaan (born 1986) – actor, In Treatment, The Amazing Spider-Man 2.[193]
Alan
Dershowitz (born 1938) – lawyer, jurist and political
commentator.[194]
Peter
Dinklage (born 1969) – actor[195]
Ed Droste (born
1978) – lead singer for the indie rock band, Grizzly Bear.[196]
Sean
Durkin (born 1981) – film director.[197]
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.[198]
Su
Friedrich (born 1954) - filmmaker and Princeton University film professor[114]
Peaches
Geldof (1989-2014) – British model and socialite[199]
Yoel
Goldman, founder of the Brooklyn, New York-based development company, All
Year Management
The Gregory Brothers – music group
notable for Internet series, "Auto Tune the News"[200]
Isaac
Hager, founder of the New York City-based Cornell Realty Management
Randy
Harrison (born 1977) – TV (Queer as Folk) and theatre actor[201]
Eve Hewson (born
1991), actress who appeared in the film This Must Be the Placeand played
Nurse Lucy Elkins in Steven
Soderbergh's TV series The Knick.[202]}
David Karp (born
1986) – creator of Tumblr[203]
Louis
Kestenbaum, real estate developer, founder and chairman of New York
City-based Fortis Property Group.
Zoë
Kravitz (born 1988) – daughter of Lenny Kravitz[204]
Solly
Krieger (1909-1964) – boxer[205]
James
Lafferty (born 1985) – actor, director and producer known for
role as Nathan Scott on One Tree Hill
Leonard
Lopate (born 1940) – public radio talk show host.[206]
Sid
Luckman (1916–1998), NFL Hall of Fame football player[207]
Barry
Manilow (born 1943) – songwriter and performer[208]
Bettina May (born
1979) – pin-up model and photographer[209]
Henry
Miller (1891-1980) – novelist[210]
Keith Murray – singer from the
band We Are Scientists[211]
Buddy Rich (1917-1987) –
drummer[213]
Frankie
Rose (born 1979) – musician
Winona
Ryder – actress[214]
Mikheil Saakashvili - former president
of Georgia, exiled in the U.S.[215]
Semi Precious Weapons, including Justin
Tranter – glam rock band and their frontman
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.[216]
Gene
Simmons – member of band Kiss
Betty
Smith (1896-1972), author best known for her 1943 novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.[217]
Abby Stein (born
1991), transgender activist, writer, and theorist who was
born and raised in Williamsburg[218]
Jerry
Stiller (born 1927), comedian and actor[219]
Stuart
Subotnick (born 1942), businessman and media magnate, among America's
500 wealthiest people and on The World's Billionaires list[220]
Alex Turner (born 1986) English
musician and member of Arctic
Monkeys[191]
Michael K. Williams (born 1966), film and
television actor, notable for his roles in The Wire and Boardwalk
Empire[221]
HAREDI RABBIS
Zecharia Dershowitz (1859-1921), founder
of one of the first Yiddish communities in America and the first Hasidic synagogue
in Williamsburg
Yom-Tov
Ehrlich (1914–1990), renowned Hasidic musician, composer, lyricist,
recording artist, and popular entertainer known for his popular Yiddish music
albums. One of his most popular songs is "Williamsburg", a song about
Hasidic Williamsburg during the 1950s.
Chaim Avraham Dov Ber Levine
HaCohen(1859/1860 – 1938), known as "the Malach" (lit. "the
angel"), founder of the Malachim (Hasidic group).
Yosef
Greenwald (1903-1984), second Grand
Rebbe of the Pupa Hasidic dynasty;[223]supported
the making of Eruvin in
his hometown[224]
Yaakov Yechezkia Greenwald II (born
1948), present Grand Rebbe of the Pupa Hasidic sect, son of Rabbi Yosef
Mordechai
Hager (1922-2018), founder and Admor of
the Vizhnitz Hasidic sect of Monseyfor
46 years
Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam (1905-1994),
founding Rebbe of the Sanz-KlausenburgHasidic dynasty[225]
Fishel Hershkowitz (1922-2017), the HaleinerRav, the
senior Klausenburger dayan in Williamsburg, and respected elder in the
American Orthodox community[226][227]
Dovid
Leibowitz (1889-1941), founder and first rosh
yeshiva of the Rabbinical Seminary of America, known today as "Yeshivas Chofetz Chaim", in
Williamsburg.
Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz (1886–1948),
founder of Torah Vodaath and Torah
U'Mesorah
Eliezer Zusia Portugal (1898-1982), the
first Skulener Rebbe
Yisrael
Spira (1889-1989), Bluzhover Rebbe, senior member of Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah
Yonasan
Steif (1877–1958), rabbi of Kehal
Adas Yereim in Williamsburg, founded by New York Orthodox Jews who
came from Vienna;
known as the "Wiener Rov"
Joel
Teitelbaum (1887-1979), founder and first Grand Rebbe of the Satmar Hasidic dynasty.[228]
Moshe Teitelbaum (1914-2006),
Hasidic rebbe and the world leader of the Satmar Hasidim after succeeding his
uncle in 1980.[229]
Zalman
Leib Teitelbaum (born 1951), one of two Grand Rebbes of Satmar, and
the third son of Moshe Teitelbaum, Grand Rabbi of Congregation
Yetev Lev D'Satmar (Rodney Street, Brooklyn)
Yakov Yosef Twerkey (1899 - 1968),
Grand Rebbe of the Skver Hasidic dynasty
IN POPULAR CULTURE
LITERATURE
The first three novels by Daniel
Fuchs -- Summer in Williamsburg (1934), Homage to
Blenholt (1936), and Low Company (1937), collectively known as
"The Williamsburg Trilogy" or "The Brooklyn Novels"—are set
primarily in Williamsburg or its immediate vicinity.[230]
The 1943 novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn takes
place in Williamsburg in the 1910s.[231]
The 1967 book The Chosen by Chaim
Potok, is set in 1940s Williamsburg. The book was made
into a film in 1981.[232]
FILM, TELEVISION, AND
THEATER
Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
begins in Williamsburg and includes scenes shot in Williamsburg, though the
focus of the story was Manhattan's Lower
East Side in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1960s.[233]
The 1988 movie Coming
to America was primarily filmed on South 5th Street in Williamsburg
despite being set in Queens.[234]
The episode "Walk Like a Man" of The
Sopranos, aired 2007, features a scene shot in Williamsburg.[235]
The sitcom 2
Broke Girls (2011–2017) is set in Williamsburg.[236]
Parts of Daredevil were filmed in
Williamsburg, Greenpoint, and Bushwick, all passing for Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan.[238] Music
New Jersey emo band Armor
for Sleep's third album Smile
for Them featured the single "Williamsburg", which mocks the hipsters that call the
neighborhood home.[239]
Kany
García filmed her music video for her song "Feliz"
in Williamsburg.[240]
SEE ALSO
References
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