Talk:Williamsburg, Brooklyn/Archive 1

adding a sectoin

Why is there not more mention of the Hasidic Jewish population???????????? That's is utterly and extremely rediculous. There is a whole section of south Williamsburg that is ONLY Hasidic Jews...there needs to be more mention of this. In fact, Willamsburg is more hasidic Jewish than Borough Prak in some ways. Please ad a section about this. Thanks. Because Willaimsburg is more Jews than Hipsters. Hipster are technically more north-north williamsburg and south greenpoint, but they changed the zoning to make it seem more hip. I'm not even Jewish and i know Williamsburg is Jewish. UGH!!!!!!! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.112.103.106 (talk) 05:37, 23 June 2013 (UTC)

there is already a section. Vinkel (talk) 14:23, 7 April 2014 (UTC)

Removed section on zoning

First of all, this rant against the zoning resolution is filled with outright lies and distortions of truth. A main issue is this zoning act was passed into law by a democratic process - are we to discuss every zoning change for every neighborhood in every city in the country? This was not a paritcularly controversial zoning act within the city at large and received widespread support. It is a done deal and dozens of buildings have already been constructed. A couple of facts

1) The rezoning, by national standards, is relatively low density. The average Wikipedia reader probably doesn't think zoning that allows for 10-story buildings to be particularly unusual, especially given this is New York City we are talking about.

2) The inclusionary housing program has very specific income guidelines which are, for New York City, NOT upper middle class. Further, many programs are available which allow for even greater subsidies for programs which include low-income housing units. Read up on it all here http://www.nychdc.com

3) Higher density development is not of "dubious" economic benefit. There is a tremendous housing shortage in New York City, and prices will not come down until new housing is built. This is simple supply and demand economics. No one questions this, except for the rich who own properties and want to keep newcomers out of their neighborhoods.

4) There has actually been so much new development prices are already falling - by as much as 10% over the summer of 2007. This is a big deal and proof that prices only go down when there is excess capacity

If someone wishes to rewrite the section to include a discussion of how the zoning changed, please include actual facts like the maximum FAR. These districts are moderate density by national standards, and the actual facts, with links to the zoning code, rather than hyperbole, need to be included. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.127.98.2 (talk) 20:29, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

They Might Be Giants

Are TMBG from Williamsburg? Because their first video was shot there, and that's where their mailing address is. - User:BNLfan53 BNLfan53 04:33, 29 April 2007 (UTC) 04:33, April 29, UTC

rewrite? citations?

Why does this article have a tag for a "complete rewrite"? The article is very thorough and accurate. The complaints of a small handful people commenting here should not mean that the work of many gets scrapped. Please remove the "rewrite" tag, it's not called for.

Also, the music section has morre citations and sources than the rest of the article, why is it consistently tagged as "citation needed"?

I agree. The editor who tagged it contributed the vague haiku at the bottom of this talk page by way of explanation and hasn't been heard from since. I'm pulling the tag. Sylvain1972 02:44, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

This article is horrible. THere is ONCE SENTENCE for the entire period of 1970 to the present time, with endless paragraphs about the 2005 rezoning act which was duly enacted by elected officials and is widely supported by the public at large. This article is written by some hipster with axe to grind about issues that are important to HIM, not that are relevant to most people wanting to read about the neighborhood. This is not a blog, it is a an encycolpedia. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.127.98.2 (talk) 20:16, 25 September 2007 (UTC)

I tend to agree. This article is heavily biased towards the culture inhabiting Williamsburg within the last decade. And isn't all the space spent on environmental issues perhaps a bit of undue weight? Does Williamsburg really have more toxicity/environmental issues than other similarly located areas within other large American cities?68.46.183.96 (talk) 22:11, 22 November 2008 (UTC)

Please add it, just remember to provide a citation. Any history from 1900 to the present would be useful. Ando228 (talk) 23:20, 23 November 2008 (UTC)

Environmental Hazards

Rather than irrationally focus on the remote risk of a terrorist strike on Williamsburg (ganja getting you paranoid?), why not pay attention to legitimate environmental risks, which have 100% certainty of affecting residents? In the section about environmental hazards, there should be something about the various health problems associated with the unclean drinking water and polluted air in the neighborhood (from decades of industrial pollution, much of it in very close Greenpoint), including sky high asthma rates. The 20something hipsters never stay long enough to become aware of the widely publicized long-term health risks, even though they might suffer from them.

I don't have time to write it at the moment, but someone should. Aroundthewayboy 16:50, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

• Bueller? Bueller? Aroundthewayboy 19:46, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

This entry re. Environmental Hazards - Sounds more like an opinion that based on facts and research... Elhombre72 21:39, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

Aroundthewayboy...if you feel so strongly it should be written, you should write it. Didn't have time on May 8, fine, but three months have passed. I'm especially interested in seeing your citations for unclean drinking water. Decafdyke 01:06, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

While inflammatory, Aroundthewayboy is right. Between Exxon's largest American oil spill in Greenpoint (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a87yhnWc.q1U&refer=us) and the fact that Greenpoint and Williamsburg are home to over 15 waste processing and transferring facilities, processing about a third of all of New York City's garbage (http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40A1FF73A5C0C718DDDAD0894DC404482), the health problems due to these issues are certainly affecting the residents on a daily basis. Anirishprophet 12:53, 4 May 2007 (UTC)

General

Shouldn't there be some sort of public warning about the killer school buses that roam the streets trying to run people down?

Wow. This article is so full of inacurracies I don't know where to begin.

Thank you for your suggestion! When you feel an article needs improvement, please feel free to make whatever changes you feel are needed. Wikipedia is a wiki, so anyone can edit almost any article by simply following the Edit this page link at the top. You don't even need to log in! (Although there are some reasons why you might like to…) The Wikipedia community encourages you to be bold. Don't worry too much about making honest mistakes—they're likely to be found and corrected quickly. If you're not sure how editing works, check out how to edit a page, or use the sandbox to try out your editing skills. New contributors are always welcome.

I removed the paragraph about the guy who produced the surrealist show because this could only have been put in there by him. I am an artist who has been in the area since 1992, and this little show had little to no impact on anyone or anything that I know of. the principle galleries in the area are: Momenta, Pirogi, Roebling hall.

i will come back here in a few days and prop up the art content. the bits about the bands and the roving parties are correct. other mentions should go to: L cafe read cafe Jeff Stark Hungry March Band Girdle Factory the G train activsm in the area etc

Vandalism Ahead

This is obviously one of the "old" crowd, foregotten in the mix of more important personages and venues, who thinks that Pierogi, Roebling Hall, etc., and his or her friends are still, if they ever were, important people in Williamsburg or the art world. This person has proceeded to vandalize the article and, by all indications, will be coming back to add his (her) friends and probably himself (herself) to the article and delete people he or she does not approve. We will wait and see.

Message for Terrance and WAH center folk. please do not use this space to promote your facility. i removed the material here that was mostly PR for WAH center. WAH center is a pretty cool place, but it is in NO WAY central or integral to williamsburg. it is one among *many* *many* diverse institutions, people, micro-communities, movements and other factors that helped to develop the area as an artist district.

why don't you start a page specifically for WAH center where more detailed information and links for your organization would be more fitting? it looked liked you just cut/pasted your mission statement here...blah*

in fact, i'm pretty sure that it is not advised for people to write about themselves at all on wikipedia.

Southside & Northside of Williamsburg

northside and southside are part of williamsburg. so if you live in either one, you live in williamsburg.

It never ceases to amaze me how quick "hipsters from around the nation" are to trash on other hipsters from around the nation who arrived five minutes later. Yes, the terms Southside and Northside are used by locals, but they refer to the south side and north side of what? Of Williamsburg, of course. Maybe the Town of Williamsburgh didn't include those areas in the 1650s, but by the 19h century and beyond the term certainly did. I guess somewhat forgot to tell the hipsters who put on the Giglio Feast of Our Lady of Mt Carmel every year that they don't live in Williamsburg, because based on their website they seem to think they do: http://www.giglio-usa.org/Brooklyn_Mt_Carmel.htm. Here's an article from an 1883 edition of the Brooklyn Eagle that places Northside and Southside in "Williamsburg": http://eagle.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/Repository/getFiles.asp?Style=OliveXLib:ArticleToMailGifMSIE&Type=text/html&Path=BEG/1883/12/16&ID=Ar00904&Locale=&ChunkNum=0 You can blame hipsters for many things, but calling Williamsburg "Williamsburg" is kosher ~GZ 10/2/05

THEY ARE REFERRING TO THE NORTH SIDE AND SOUTH SIDE OF METROPOLITAN AVENUE...IT IS THE DIVIDING LINE...IF YOU GO UP METRO PAST THE EXPRESSWAY INTO THE AREA NEAR ANNUNCIATION CHURCH, TO YOUR RIGHT IS THE NORTH SIDE AND TO YOUR LEFT IS THE SOUTH SIDE...ITS AS SIMPLE AS THAT...

I KNOW BECAUSE I'VE LIVED ON BOTH SIDES...AND NOW RESIDE IN STATEN ISLAND AND COME BACK EVERY YEAR FOR THE OLMC FEAST (HUBBY AND KIDS LIFT!) AND I MISS THE OLD NEIGHBORHOOD TERRIBLY!!!

Yes, this was addressed to an earlier editor who said the Northside was not part of Williamsburg. Sylvain1972 20:12, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

Also, "Southside" and "Northside" represent discreet phases of early development in Williamsburg. The Southside is the "first ward," the Northside is the "second ward," and "Central Williamsburg" is the "third ward." Not sure if that helps with understanding why there is a Southside or Northside, but hey. Dennis sinneD —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.73.111.136 (talk) 14:34, 17 May 2011 (UTC)

About "Williamsburg"

maccarren park is in greenpoint. well, its kind of in between williamsburg and greenpoint but its mostly greenpoint.

I see some discussion about what to name it. My mother and father grew up there (my mother's father headed the St. Paulinus feast back in the 1930s) and they all called it "Williamsburg." When asked further, they would have said they lived on "the Northside" (my mom lived on Havemeyer and N 7th, my dad moved around, but usually lived on Graham Ave north of Metropolitian). Grand Street is the dividing line between the North and South Streets and traditionally marked the dividing line between the Italians (Northside) and the Jews and later Puerto Ricans ("Southside"). When I lived near MacCarren Park in the early 2000s, I said I lived in Williamsburg. --Amcalabrese 22:31, 12 March 2006 (UTC)

Now, I don't have anything against LGBWilliamsburgBridge.jpg as a picture in and of itself. However, I do not feel that it is appropriate in this context. Yes, it was taken from the Williamsburg waterfront—but it doesn't say anything about Williamsburg itself! This image might be well-suited for the article about Manhattan or Downtown, or perhaps later in this article in other context, but not as the top-level image.

McCarren Park is in Greenpoint...the zip there is 11222...which is Greenpoint...Williamsburgh's zip is 11211...

Metropolitan Avenue is the dividing line betweeen North and South Brooklyn...if you are on Metro going towards Annunciation church (i.e. Roebling streets, etc.) the "Northside" is on your right and the "Southside" is to your left...

Rents

This article states average rents, but then doesn't explain whether they're per month, per week, per quarter etc. Can anyone provide some clarification?

those are all daily rates.--Ultranaut 05:47, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

How about info on the multii million dollar condos all over the place?

And the many new hasidic constuctions!

Yes, the impact of construction has had a positive impact on Brooklyn's economy and proves the "trickle down" theory works

Although I will be the first to admit that this is not the proper forum for an economic or political debate, What's your logic behind THAT one? This is not the place to make an out-of-context argument about the "trickle down" theory. I will simply say that I refute your use of the "trickle down" term in this case, it is a grossly innapropriate term for describing the development of the economic conditions that you are referencing. --Fossiltooth

I'm not convinced this is trickle down economics either. NYTimes is reporting today that > 30% of those multi-million dollar condos in the area belong to new European immigrants who are slowly dominating the demographic, taking advantage of the weak dollar.68.46.183.96 (talk) 22:17, 22 November 2008 (UTC)

Bands From Williamsburg

This article states that:

"Williamsburg and its scene has produced alternative and avant rock bands such as They Might Be Giants, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV on the Radio (who featured an image of the Williamsburg Bridge approach on the inside of their debut EP, "Young Liars"), White Magic, Japanther, Oneida, Liars, Awesome Color, Parts and Labor, Diamond Nights, Sightings, Langhorne Slim, Vic Thrill, Wooden Wand and the Vanishing Voice, Ghost Exits, Matt & Kim, Will Hawkins, The Rapture, Pixeltan, Enon, Young People, Ex Models, Rogers Sisters, Double Leopards, Aa (aka Big A little a), Gang Gang Dance, SnapPusher, Les Savy Fav, BARR, Black Dice, Out Hud, !!! (aka "Chk Chk Chk"), and Animal Collective."

Now, as far as I know, They Might Be Giants are most definitely from Park Slope, not Williamsburg. As to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, I was almost certain they variously from NYU, Oberlin, etc. I'm not sure about the rest of the bands, but considering that those two don't seem right to me, I'm inclined to believe that the rest of the bands that are listed - who are in fact of much interest to hipsters in Williamsburg - are not neccesarily based in Williamsburg.

Let's try to either reference these or remove them. --Pac 05:30, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

Someone needs to make the music section it's own stub. It also needs to be seriously edited and researched (considering a majority of those bands are Manhattan based). edit: The page at least should have a disclaimer, but I don't know how that works. Anyone? Emilysix 22:59, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

They Might Be Giants are most definitely long-time Williamsburg residents. View Gigantic, the recent documentary on the band.

This list of bands in not encyclopedic; a few bands typical of Williamsburg is all that's appropriate. A good solution might be to list none at all and just link to the stub, as Emilysix recommended. Um... I'm not sure how to do it either. --Eeblet 17:28, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

Pictures of Williamsburg

When I was in Brooklyn this summer I also took a few pictures of Williamsburg, I wanted to post these on the page, but I posted pictures before and I am required to have the copyright, but I took these pictures myself (how can I license them to say they are under my name before posting?)

Thank you --Bahador

East Williamsburg review

I'm asking people who are familiar with Williamsburg to come look at East Williamsburg, Brooklyn and review it. I created the article some time ago, primarily to distinguish that the area is concurrently associated with Bushwick, as well as Williamsburg. (It has since been edited primarily by another user.) Previously the article redirected to Bushwick. Those who are familiar with the Eastern District of Brooklyn will also know greatly about this area. Thanks. Tinlinkin 10:12, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

east williamsburg is the part near the grand street campus high schools.

Williamsburg, Brooklyn

The lead section is confusing and too short.
There should be a picture next to the lead section.
The History section needs to be restructured.
The Evnironmental Hazards section is biased and opinion based.
The Music Scene section is jumbled, and has too many long lists within paragraphs(band names, venues).
I think the Rent section should be cited, and probably updated.
The Rezoning section is biased/one-sided.
Grassroots Development section?
Emilysix 00:56, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

I think the rezoning section is rather balanced. Proponents say this, opponents say that. Can you be more specific? Sylvain1972 13:30, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

aefwtsdfhjtfwyu65

I can imagine a lot of families on the Northside of Williamsburg (the Italians, particularly) own their own homes, and I see that a lot of them are living lives of ridiculous prosperity. As in, they're making a killing off renting the above floors of their homes at the current Williamsburg market rate, and then they can sell their lots to delevopers for more money.

So, why only the mention of people being "pushed out", but not the prosperity of the home owners currently there? It's typical bourgeouis bohemian attitudes that focus on the "old neighborhood dying, maaan" by the "totally phoney hipsters" and not see that the old neighborhood includes actual home owners, since so many of the buildings in WBURG are suburban houses. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 140.212.213.41 (talk) 17:39, 5 February 2007 (UTC).

yes alot of homes are owned but alot of homes arent owned and the rent to people. and yes some of the people they rent to are the so called hipsters but some of them they rent to are to people that have been living here for a while. like myself. my rent is going up. and i cant afford for it to get any higher based on what i make for a living. alot of the people in this neighborhood do not make as much as the hipsters do because they probably never got a chance to go to college or to move up the social ladder. so before you say that some people are just profiting over this, there's always been people profiting. but the ones that think the rent in williamsburg is affordable compared to their salaries are being pushed out.

don't forget rising property value will also push out homeowners who don't can't afford to pay the taxes that go along with that. --Vsthesquares 17:19, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

External Links

I don't consider wiliamsboard.com a spam link under the policy on external links. On the contrary, it provides "meaningful, relevant content" for those interested in the neighborhood.Oldmark 20:12, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

Maybe not a spam link, but forums are considered links to be avoided, so unless there's an incredibly compelling reason, it shouldn't be there. Mosmof 08:03, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

Asterisk? Bushwick or Williamsburg? Also more on Music...

I'm absolutely positive that Asterisk Art Project is in Bushwick on Johnson. Is that part of Williamsburg now?

Also, the music has been brought up a lot, and I certainly think it needs to be addressed. First of all, the grammar, syntax, and simple incorrect usage of words is astounding. It's amateurish, and that mindset filters right through to the list of bands. It seems more like a list of bands from BROOKLYN in general. I understand that a lot of those bands are from nearby neighborhoods and got exposure there, but the entire list seems a little excessive. General Miggs, Heroine Sheiks, and Awesome Color? Do those bands really warrant mention? We Are Scientists were barely even a blip on the radar (Besides, their own page lists them as from California). Just a cursory glimpse at these bands pages in Wiki itself or in their own bios betrays most of the listings here, like Interpol(NYU, actually, as stated on their own page), !!!(Actually based in 3 different cities), Yeah Yeah Yeahs(Williamsburg? Really? NYU again), The Rapture (Formed and the relocated to NYC, though, I can't imagine who would want to claim them). Shortening the list, and *checking* it would give the section more impact as actual Williamsburg based *popular* bands would be listed first, with a few of the lesser known (but still national) acts afterwards. It would make the section seem a lot less... transparent and insecure?

Also, is there any point in mentioning that someone from TMBG "lives" there? William Basinski and many other non Williamsburg associated artists live in the area. I don't think there's any need to list obscure residents, no matter how much their music rocks.

EDIT: The East Village page lists relevant musicians like this:

"Among the many important bands and singers who got their start at these clubs and other venues in downtown New York were: the New York Dolls, Patti Smith, Arto Lindsay, the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, the Plasmatics, Glenn Danzig, Sonic Youth, the Beastie Boys, Anthrax, and The Strokes."

I think that's a much more relevant list, and the simple qualifier "got their start" would allow us to keep some of these bands, as it would no longer be necessary that the bands "be from" Williamsburg (since few young people in Williamsburg are actually *from* Williamsburg or NYC for that matter).

68.166.97.195 19:02, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

Grassroots Activities

It seemed that the grassroots section should mention activities and campaigns that have focused on the housing development, and the numerous issues that are attached to that. Residential development is the most important issue that the neighborhood is facing, and there are lots of organizations that are focusing efforts on it. I also made a mention of the successful campaign for bicycle parking. Wa67 (talk) 18:28, 9 February 2008 (UTC)

Rent controlled/stabilized paragraph

Why is this here? Since the paragraph doesn't talk about Williamsburg specifically, a simple Wikilink should suffice. Plus, bunching a group of external links doesn't really help the reader know where the information comes from. I'm taking it out for now - please discuss before reinserting. --Mosmof (talk) 23:08, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

since rents constantly change and are hard to document i thought the regulations which govern rents in nyc and therefore williamsburg brooklyn would be information worth providing for anyone researching the topic. perhaps i should have organized the paragraph & links better. many people do arrive in williamsburg from other parts of the country and the world ignorant of the complex rules governing rents there and those rules play a large part in determining who buys, rents, and lives in williamsburg. --Pauljoffe (talk) 02:30, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Best to move the relevant paragraphs to Rent control in New York. Jim.henderson (talk) 02:27, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

Huge WTC Photo

At the least, the placement of the burning towers photo alongside 17th-19th century Williamsburg is an odd choice. In general, why is this photo here? The towers could be seen from most of New York. It takes up a lot of page space and doesn't contribute to the article. It won't be orphaned since it's currently on the Collapse of the World Trade Center page. Ando228 (talk) 04:00, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Area needed

Need to add area of Williamsburg (in square miles). Badagnani (talk) 05:51, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

That will probably be difficult. Any note of size would need to include the streets the neighborhood is bounded by, and that tends to be disputed. Ando228 (talk) 15:38, 26 November 2008 (UTC)

Name

...Is Williamsburg named after the King consort William and MaryDavid George DeLancey (talk) 13:03, 4 December 2008 (UTC)

No, it's named after Jonathan Williams (engineer), see the Independent Williamsburgh section of the article. Ando228 (talk) 21:01, 4 December 2008 (UTC)

Unreferenced and out of place

In modern times the conception of Williamsburg (which lost its "h" with the Brooklyn merger) has expanded to cover areas not historically a part of the City of Williamsburgh. Much of what has later come to be understood as the heart of Williamsburg, the area south of Division Avenue in the west and Broadway in the east, was actually originally the Wallabout section of the City of Brooklyn. Also, much of what is today called East Williamsburg was originally organized as Brooklyn's 18th Ward from the Bushwick annexation, exclusive of the 27th and 28th Wards encompassing what is today called Bushwick, which were split off in 1892

The above text was moved to the talk page by Repliedthemockturtle (talk) 00:43, 9 March 2009 (UTC)

Map

Needs map showing where in Brooklyn (and in relation to the surrounding boroughs, especially Manhattan) it's located. Badagnani (talk) 06:53, 27 April 2009 (UTC)

Quote

The first paragraph of Williamsburg, Brooklyn#Designated historical landmarks has two quote marks, but it seems unlikely they delimit the actual quote.

"The Kings County Savings Bank ... the Kings County Savings Bank "represents a period ... a millionaires mansion.[20]

If the quote actually ends before "represents", then the space before that word doesn't belong inside the quote marks. Judging by the style, it seems more likely that the quote continues to the end of the paragraph. So could someone with access to the original, put the quote marks in the right place? Or are there two quotes? Also, "millionaires" needs an apostrophe, unless perhaps if the word is in the original quote, and the source also lacks the apostrophe. 98.247.55.21 (talk) 15:20, 24 October 2013 (UTC)

Hasidic Jews in Williamsburg

This article shows only the negative point of view referring to Hasidic jews in williamsburg Vinkel (talk) 14:21, 7 April 2014 (UTC)

I disagree. Epicgenius (talk) 16:17, 6 May 2014 (UTC)

The article also says there are 73,000 Hasidic Jews in Williamsburg, 125,000 people total, and a population that is ~50% white. It's unlikely all of these things are true.

Notable residents photos

4 out of 5 photos are of men. No wonder Wikipedia has such a great reputation among women.--Aichik (talk) 01:54, 11 April 2014 (UTC)

I hid the photos. Epicgenius (talk) 16:23, 6 May 2014 (UTC)

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Idiot Cuts Tree to Steal Bicycle

Shall we mention about the looloobrain who cut a tree down in Williamsburg to steal a bicycle? It's sourced here: http://freewilliamsburg.com/some-asshole-cut-down-a-tree-to-steal-a-bike-in-williamsburg/ Allyn (talk) 18:36, 28 January 2017 (UTC)

No. "Bicycle stolen" is hardly exceptional... Pinkbeast (talk) 19:36, 28 January 2017 (UTC)

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• Added archive https://www.webcitation.org/6Tl84ESRE?url=http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20141031/williamsburg/netflixs-daredevil-series-covertly-filming-williamsburg to http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20141031/williamsburg/netflixs-daredevil-series-covertly-filming-williamsburg

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External links modified

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 5 external links on Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20160418065105/https://tenement.org/encyclopedia/lower_landscape.htm to https://www.tenement.org/encyclopedia/lower_landscape.htm
• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20160422074918/http://www.southsideunitedhdfc.org/missionhistory.html to http://www.southsideunitedhdfc.org/missionhistory.html
• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20160403022831/http://www.southsideunitedhdfc.org/culture.html to http://www.southsideunitedhdfc.org/culture.html
• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20160402022506/http://www.southsideunitedhdfc.org/museo.html to http://www.southsideunitedhdfc.org/museo.html
• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20171106023022/http://gothamist.com/2016/03/23/henry_miller_williamsburg_apartment.php to http://gothamist.com/2016/03/23/henry_miller_williamsburg_apartment.php

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"Little Berlin"?

I call bullshit on this. The Consensus Has Spoken (talk) 02:50, 6 January 2018 (UTC)

I restored it. See the article, there's at least two sources for it (one national, one international) and this. StonyBrook (talk) 02:56, 15 November 2018 (UTC)

Good article nomination

I am doubtful about this being a good-article quality. There are several {{citation needed}} tags, in addition to sentences and entire sections that need citations but don't have them. Also, the "Culture, neighborhoods and lifestyles" probably needs to be rewritten. epicgenius (talk) 15:04, 8 July 2018 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion:

• Williamsburg PR street art.jpg

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 12:22, 10 August 2018 (UTC)

The Willie B and The Burg?

Willie B and The Burg is really a nickname for Williamsburg?-- Happypillsjr ✉ 14:35, 17 August 2018 (UTC)

Only if you can find reliable sources to back that up. --Nricardo (talk) 14:49, 17 August 2018 (UTC)

@Nricardo I think the source could help. https://www.nycbynatives.com/nyc_info/new_york_city_slang.php

population inconsistencies

The article indicates that Williamsburg's population is about 32,000, and also indicates that it has 73,000 Hasidic Jews living in it. Both of these things are obviously not true. Other sources I've found tend to suggest that the population is closer to 200,000, which seems much closer to accurate, and fits well with the cited Hasidic Jew population. Additionally, the median income listed is also unlikely to be correct, and should be cited if it is. 207.237.64.126 (talk) 02:42, 9 November 2018 (UTC)

Joseph Rosenberger

Joseph Rosenberger

Joseph Rosenberger (יוסף בן משה הלוי) (died November 2/3, 1996) was an Austrian Jewish garment worker who, by founding the first shatnes laboratory in America, single-handedly introduced shatnes-checking in the United States. The lab he founded still exists at 203 Lee Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Biography

Rosenberger arrived in the United States in 1940 after having spent 5 months in the Dachau concentration camp. From the time he arrived in America until 1944, he lived in a refugee home sponsored by the Zeirei Agudah at 616 Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Rosenberger was approached by Moshe Neuman to find out how to best check garments for shatnes, a biblically forbidden mixture of wool and linen according to Jewish law. Rosenberger sought out garment dealers in both Williamsburg and the Lower East Side of Manhattan but found that there was both little knowledge and little interest in this area of Jewish law.

Williamsburg shatnes laboratory

The Williamsburg shatnes lab at 203 Lee Avenue on the corner of Heyward Street. The upper sign states "Shatnes Laboratory of Mitzvot" and the phone number.

In 1941, Rosenberger opened the first shatnes laboratory in North America in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn.

Congregation Beth Jacob Ohev Sholom

Congregation Beth Jacob Ohev Sholom (also known as "Congregation Beth Jacob Ohev Shalom") ("House of Jacob Lover of Peace") is an Orthodox synagogue located at 284 Rodney Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York. It is the oldest Orthodox congregation on Long Island (including Brooklyn and Queens), and one of the last remaining non-Hasidic Jewish institutions in Williamsburg.

The congregation was formed in 1869 by German Jews as an Orthodox breakaway from an existing Reform congregation. It constructed its first building on Keap Street in 1870. In 1904 it merged with Chevra Ansche Sholom, and took the name Congregation Beth Jacob Anshe Sholom. The following year it constructed a new building at 274–276 South Third Street, designed by George F. Pelham.

The congregation's building was expropriated and demolished to make way for the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in the 1950s. It combined with another congregation in a similar situation, and, as Congregation Beth Jacob Ohev Sholom, constructed a new building at 284 Rodney Street, just south of Broadway, in 1957.

Joshua Fishman became rabbi in 1971. With changing demographics, attendance at services, which had been 700 in the 1970s, fell to two dozen by 2010.

Early twentieth century

Many working class German Jews moved from the Lower East Side to Williamsburg after the Williamsburg Bridge was completed in 1903, providing access to Manhattan. In January 1904, Beth Jacob merged with Chevra Ansche Sholom, a synagogue that had been founded the year before. The combined congregation took the name Beth Jacob Anshe Sholom. Chevra Ansche Sholom worshiped in a Masonic Temple, and had a number of assets, including two houses at 184–186 South Third Street valued at $6,500 (today $220,000), with a mortgage of $4,500 (today $153,000). At the time, Beth Jacob's own building was valued at $6,000 (today $203,000), with a mortgage of $2,000 (today $68,000).

Beth Jacob Anshe Sholom synagogue on South Third Street in September 1906

Beth Jacob Anshe Sholom exchanged the deeds for houses at 184–186 South Third Street for a property at 274–276 South Third Street in June 1905. It hired architect George F. Pelham to draw up plans for a new building, instructing him to copy the prominent Congregation Shaaray Tefila building on Manhattan's West 82nd Street, designed by Arnold Brunner, and known as the "West End Synagogue". Features of the new design included seating for almost 1,000 in the main sanctuary, a Talmud Torah for Hebrew language instruction in the basement, electric lightning, and steam heating. Construction was expected to cost $75,000 (today $2,540,000). Beth Jacob Anshe Sholom erected the building at 274–276 South Third Street, and sold Beth Jacob's building at 326 Keap Street to the North Side Chevre, a new congregation.

Ground was broken in June 1905, the cornerstone was laid in September, and the new building was dedicated by then-rabbi Dr. H. Veld on September 9, 1906, in time for High Holy Day services to be held there that year. The actual cost of construction was around $60,000 (today $2,030,000), of which $35,000 (today $1,190,000) was raised through sale of seats and donations, and the rest via a mortgage. The improved premises attracted many new members.

In February 1907, the congregation created a four-room Talmud Torah. In September of that year Samuel Rabinowitz was hired as rabbi for a three-year term, renewed in 1910 for another three years. A "junior congregation" was created from the members of the Talmud Torah. They elected, as their first "pupil rabbi", Harry Halpern, who later served for five decades as rabbi of the East Midwood Jewish Center.

Rabinowitz resigned in indignation in May 1912, stating the trustees did not live up to the terms of his contract, after Herman Heisman, chairman of the synagogue's board of trustees, hired an assistant rabbi, whose services Rabinowitz objected to. Rabinowitz purchased for $50,000 (today $1,580,000) a church building at South 5th Street and Marcy Avenue, and started his own synagogue there. His first Saturday services had an attendance of 1,200, a third of whom were his former congregants, and he stated that "his flock" would soon join him.

Rabinowitz was succeeded as rabbi of Beth Jacob Anshe Sholom in December 1912 by Wolf Gold. Born in Szczecin, Poland (then Stettin, Germany) in 1889, he was the descendant of at least eight generations of rabbis, and received his own rabbinic ordination in 1906, at age 17. He emigrated to the United States the following year, and served as rabbi of congregations in Chicago, Illinois and Scranton, Pennsylvania before coming to Williamsburg.

A strong proponent of Religious Zionism, Gold helped found in New York the first branch of Mizrahi (the Religious Zionists of America) in the United States in 1914 (he would subsequently assist in the founding of many of its other branches in North America). That year, the congregation purchased for the growing Talmud Torah the First United Presbyterian Church building at South 1st and Rodney Streets, at a cost of $20,050 (today $610,000). Many classrooms were added in the lower auditorium, and the building was dedicated as the "Talmud Torah of Williamsburg" in December.

In 1917, Gold was one of the founders of Yeshiva Torah Vodaas, and was its first president. He would serve at Beth Jacob Anshe Sholom until 1919, moving to a pulpit in San Francisco. That year the congregation had 155 member families. Gold would emigrate to Palestine in 1935, and was one of the signatories of the Israeli Declaration of Independence.

Gold was succeeded as rabbi by Solomon Golobowsky. The congregation had decided by 1918 that the Talmud Torah should become independent: during Golobowsky's tenure, in 1921, it demolished the church building housing the school, and built in its place a new building, with 18 classrooms and an auditorium. The school was incorporated as the "Hebrew School of Williamsburg", and title to the building and property was transferred from the synagogue to it in July of that year. The school in turn assumed a mortgage of $15,000 (today $260,000) and additional debts of around $10,700 (today $180,000).

Isaac Bunin succeeded Golobowsky as rabbi in December 1926. Born in Malistovka, Krasnopoli (near Mogilev, Belarus) in 1882, he had emigrated to the United States in 1923. While practicing as a rabbi in Russia, he issued a responsum in 1908 that permitted Jews to shoot—on the Sabbath—anarchist communists who terrorized local Jewish communities, and extorted "contributions" from them. Before coming to Beth Jacob Anshe Sholom he served as rabbi in Trenton, New Jersey, where he was instrumental in the creation of the re-established Dr. Theodor Herzl's Zion Hebrew School (opened October 1926).

Post world war II

Following World War II and the Holocaust, large numbers of Hasidic and haredi Jewish refugees immigrated to Williamsburg. The congregation initially had poor relations with these groups, but these later improved with some segments of the Hasidic community. The synagogue celebrated Bunin's Silver Jubilee as rabbi in March, 1951. His work Hegyonot Yitzhak was published in 1953.

The old Jewish area of Williamsburg east of Broadway was strongly impacted by the construction of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in the 1950s. The congregation's building was expropriated and demolished. It joined with another large Ashkenazi synagogue in the same situation, and in 1957 the merged congregations constructed the current building at the edge of the "Jewish Triangle", just west of Broadway. In 1965, Chaim A. Pincus was the rabbi.

Joshua Fishman, described by George Kranzler as "a renowned scholar and orator," became the rabbi of the congregation in 1971. He also served from 1982 as head of Torah Umesorah – National Society for Hebrew Day Schools. At the time Fishman became rabbi, as many as 700 people would attend Beth Jacob Ohev Sholom's services.

One of the members in the 1990s and 2000s was Marty Needleman. He was project director for Brooklyn Legal Services, which provided legal services to low-income Brooklyn residents, and was a member of the executive committees of both the synagogue and of Los Sures, a Williamsburg community-based housing group. Another notable congregant is Steve Cohn, the Democratic District Leader and lawyer whose father was involved with the synagogue, and who had his Bar Mitzvah there.

Samuel Heilman wrote in 1996 that Beth Jacob Ohev Sholom was one of four Williamsburg institutions that served to "anchor the community around them", and "in effect geographically engulf and cancel" the ability of prominent local churches to "dominate the neighborhood". By the mid-1990s, however, the synagogue attracted only 300 to 400 generally elderly Ashkenazi men and women for High Holy Day services, most of whom lived in "public high rise projects", and Fishman doubted that Williamsburg's only remaining Orthodox Nusach Ashkenaz synagogue still holding regular services would survive. By 2010, Shabbat attendance was around two dozen worshipers, and weekday attendance half that.

As of 2010, Beth Jacob Ohev Sholom was the oldest Orthodox congregation on Long Island (including Brooklyn and Queens), and, according to Brooklyn Eagle journalist Raanan Geberer, "one of the few remnants of the non-Hasidic Jewish community that thrived in Williamsburg until the 1960s". No Conservative or Reform synagogues presently exist in the neighborhood, Rabbi Fishman retired in 2014. The president is Martin S. Needelman.

Rimenov Shul

Front of building of the Rimanov Shul in Williamsburg

• Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY: Rimenov Shul "Toras Menachem of Rimanov", led by Rabbi Mendel Goldberger (a descendant of Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Rimanov) at 104 Spencer Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn. This synagogue is uniquely known for the many Minyanim performed simultaneously (there could be up to 4 services performed in a single Friday night).

Simon Dushinsky

Simon Dushinsky (born 1972) is an American real estate developer who co-owns the New York City-based Rabsky Group with his partner, Isaac Rabinowitz.

Biography

Dushinsky was born and raised in Israel and belongs to the Vizhnitz Hasidic community in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Dushinsky co-founded The Rabsky Group with Isaac Rabinowitz in the early 1990s and focused on developing condominiums for the Hasidic community. In 2002, he completed his first major development, a $40 million, six-building Park Plaza condo complex for Hasidic residents. In 2007, The Rabsky Group purchased a 50 percent stake in six industrial buildings owned by the Chetrit Group (founded by Joseph Chetrit) for $4 million. His firm lead the redevelopment of the buildings due to their familiarity with the neighborhood. As of 2015, his firm is working on several large projects in New York City including a 398-unit Bushwick rental building which is part of the Rheingold Brewery redevelopment with 200 affordable housing units. a 777-unit rental building in Bedford-Stuyvesant on the former Pfizer Corporation site; and a 44-story, 400-unit residential rental building in Long Island City, Queens. In 2015 - in his first non-residential venture - he is partnering with Toby Moskovits’ Heritage Equity Partners to build a 400,000-square-foot office building in Williamsburg.

Dushinsky is currently focused on attracting young renters to Bushwick, Brooklyn which he sees as the next development hotspot. Along with fellow Hasidic developers Joseph Brunner, Isaac Hager, and Yoel Goldman, he is one of the most prominent developers in Brooklyn credited with helping to gentrify Williamsburg, Bushwick, Greenpoint, Borough Park, and Bedford-Stuyvesant.