The Brooklyn Perennials
In Brooklyn, a place brimming with creative, driven, and talented people, selecting a group of just 100 professionals influencing our culture is not easy. Many who we included in this year‘s list have more recently emerged in the public sphere for the admirable work they have done; others had not been given the spotlight they have long deserved; and others still, who we did not include, fall under a different category: They have been around for so long, and have been doing such outstanding work, that they belong on this list in perpetuity—they are a group of perennial Brooklyn influencers—and many have appeared our influencer lists before…
Katy Clark
President, Brooklyn Academy of Music
Matthew Morgan & Jocelyn Cooper
Organizers, Afropunk Festival
Ryan Schreiber
Founder, Pitchfork
Mikhail Prokhorov
Owner, Brooklyn Nets
Bruce Ratner
Chairman, Forest City Ratner Companies
Peter Shapiro
Music promoter & founder, Brooklyn Bowl
Paola Prestini
Executive director & creative director, National Sawdust
Lena Dunham
Actor, author & director of GIRLS
Ric Leichtung & Emilie Friedlander
Co-founders, ADHOC
Wes Jackson
Executive director, Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival
Steve Buscemi
Actor & legend
Spike Lee
Filmmaker & founder, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks
James Murphy
Musician
Yasiin Bey
Actor, musician, & producer (formerly known as Mos Def)
Teju Cole
Writer & activist
A.O. Scott
New York Times film critic
Chuck Schumer
U.S. Senator
John Turturro
Actor
Ben Sinclair & Katja Blichfeld
Creators, High Maintenance
Wyatt Cenac
Comedian & actor
Ethan Hawke
Actor
Paul Auster
Author
and on and on…