Meet this Year’s 30 Under 30, Class of 2018: Young, Gifted, and Oh So Brooklyn!
Every year, our annual 30 under 30 lists highlight young Brooklynites who are marching fearlessly into the future, taking the borough with them―wherever they go. Following their lead, we asked ourselves what we could do better to ensure that these lists fairly reflects this borough’s population, and everything it has to offer. If not everything, as much as possible.
Instead of trying to tell Brooklyn who and what it is, by making our own lists and dispatching it to the world, we opened this year’s list to the public, allowing the borough to speak for itself. We couldn’t have been happier with the results. In just two weeks, we received over 300 nominations. We knew we had our work cut out for us but was dedicated to getting the job done―and doing it well.
Lists are never perfect. They’re not intended to be. Like the people included here, they’re an acute understanding that the path towards greatness is not a destination, but a journey, happening one step at a time. Meet the Class of 2018!
PHOTOGRAPHY John Midgley
COVER DESIGN Morgan McMullen
VIDEOGRAPHY Eva Midgley
Adam J. Kurtz, 29
Artist and Author
South Williamsburg
Most Likely To: Be Unpredictable
“Things are what you make of them.”
Jan. 16
Ashleigh Eubanks, 27
Food Justice Organizer
Bed-Stuy
Most Likely To: Have A Deep And Heartfelt Conversation With You Upon Meeting You
“American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it.”
― James Baldwin
Jan. 17
Ayanna Prescod, 29
President & EIC of OurBKSocial Inc.
Crown Heights
Most Likely To: Produce A Broadway Musical By 2020
“No matter what accomplishments you make, somebody helped you.”
― Althea Gibson
Jan. 18
Daniel King, 27
Co-Owner, Home Union
Williamsburg
Most Likely To: Be The First One Awake
“As you wander on through life, whatever be your goal, keep your eye upon the donut, and not upon the hole.”
Jan. 19
Dylan Marron, 29
Digital Creator
Crown Heights
Most Likely To: Deliver An Impassioned (And Unprompted) Monologue About Why You Should Love The Film Adaptation Of Roald Dahl’s The Witches
“Frankly there isn’t anyone you couldn’t love once you’ve heard their story.”
― Mary Lou Kownacki
Jan. 20
Emily Bryngelson, 29
Fashion Designer, Founder & Creative Director of Abraham Label
Bed-Stuy
Most Likely To: Share TMI
“We are torn between nostalgia for the familiar and an urge for the foreign and strange. As often as not, we are homesick most for the places we have never known.”
― Carson McCullers
Jan. 21
Emma Allen, 29
Cartoon Editor, The New Yorker
Boerum Hill
Most Likely To: Get An Anxiety-Induced Bloody Nose While Trying To Play It Cool
“Nobody can eat fifty eggs.”
Jan. 22
Emma Orlow, 22
Independent Curator & Co-Founder of Scratch ‘n Sniff Studio
Bed-Stuy
Most Likely To: Have A Dollhouse In Their Adult Home
“If you go home with somebody, and they don’t have books, don’t fuck ’em!”
― John Waters
Jan. 23
Eugene Resnick, 29
Deputy Communications Director & LGBT Liaison
Greenpoint
Most Likely To: Run For Office
“Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”
― Dr. Seuss
Jan. 24
Fran Tirado, 26
Writer & Queer Community Builder
South Williamsburg
Most Likely To: Bring Judith Butler Into The Conversation
“You guys know about vampires? You know how, vampires have no reflections in a mirror? There’s this idea that monsters don’t have reflections in a mirror. And what I’ve always thought isn’t that monsters don’t have reflections in a mirror. It’s that if you want to make a human being into a monster, deny them, at the cultural level, any reflection of themselves. And growing up, I felt like a monster in some ways. I didn’t see myself reflected at all. I was like, ‘Yo, is something wrong with me? That the whole society seems to think that people like me don’t exist?’ And part of what inspired me, was this deep desire that before I died, I would make a couple of mirrors. That I would make some mirrors so that kids like me might seem themselves reflected back and might not feel so monstrous for it.” ― Junot Diaz
Jan. 25
Gabriel Gomez, 26
Filmmaker & Entrepreneur
Bed-Stuy
Most Likely To: Scream Just For Fun
“Make good art.”
― Neil Gaiman
Jan. 26
Gabrielle Korn, 28
Editor-in-Chief, NYLON Media
Bed-Stuy
Most Likely To: Ask To Say Hi To Your Dog
“I am a superficial woman of depth.”
― Melissa Broder
Jan. 27
Giovania Tiarachristie, 26
Urban Planner
Weeksville
Most Likely To: Still Ride Their Bike In 20-degree Weather
“Loneliness does not come from having no people around, but from being unable to communicate the things that seem important to oneself.”
― Carl Jung
Jan. 28
Glynn Pogue, 26
Writer
Bed-Stuy
Most Likely To Do It For The Story
“I am deliberate and afraid of nothing.”
― Audre Lorde
Jan. 29
Hannah Pyper, 29
Product Marketing Manager, Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Clinton Hill
Most Likely To: Host A Fertility Séance
“Be here now.”
Jan. 30
Harry Portnof, 29
Founder, Greenway Records
Prospect Heights
Most Likely To: Crowd Surf
“Tomorrow belongs to those who can hear it coming.”
― David Bowie
Jan. 31
Jenny Treantafilos, 26
Chef de Cuisine, Olmsted
Bushwick
Most Likely To: Give A Hug When You Need It Most
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
― Mahatma Ghandi
Feb. 1
Kate Gavino, 29
Writer & Illustrator, Last Night Reading
Ditmas Park
Most Likely To: Win The Nobel Prize For A Graphic Novel
“Dr. Weiss, at forty, knew that her life had been ruined by literature.”
― Anita Brookner
Feb. 2
Latasha Alcindor, 29
Hip-Hop Artist
Flatbush
Most Likely To: Takeover The Planet Then Vacation
“My job is to somehow make them curious enough, or persuade them, by hook or crook, to get them more aware of themselves and where they came from and what they are into and what is already there, and just bring it out.”
― Nina Simone
Feb. 3
Lauren Blodgett, 28
Immigration Attorney
Prospect Heights
Most Likely To: Have A Silly-String Fight
“Nothing can make our lives, or the lives of other people, more beautiful than perpetual kindness.”
― Leo Tolstoy
Feb. 4
Lauren Argentina Zelaya, 27
Curator & Cultural Producer, Brooklyn Museum
Crown Heights
Most Likely To: Keep It Real With You
“Caminante, no hay puentes, se hace puentes al andar.”
(Voyager, there are no bridges, one builds them as one walks.)
― Gloria E. Anzaldúa
Feb. 5
Lola Glass, 9
Artist
Windsor Terrace
Most Likely To: Surprise You
“Girls just wanna have fun”
― Cyndi Lauper
Feb. 6
Milah Libin, 24
Editor-in-Chief, Dizzy Magazine; Music Video Director
Bushwick
Most Likely To: Stay In On A Friday Night
“You arrived like a day and passed like a cloud.”
― The Pretenders
Feb. 7
Myles Johnson, 26
Writer & Critic
Crown Heights
Most Likely To: Fall Asleep In His Bathroom With A Book And Laptop After A Night Of Hard Drinking And Dancing Because It Feels Cozy And Clever
“Language is also a place of struggle.”
― bell hooks
Feb. 8
Naiylah Warren, 28
Marriage & Family Therapist; Substance Abuse Counselor
Bed-Stuy
Most Likely To: Stay In Bed All Day Watching “Fixer-Upper” On HGTV
“In the final analysis, it was between you and God, it was never between you and them, anyway.”
― Mother Teresa
Feb. 9
Nate Cotanch, 27
Founder, Zia Green Chile Company
Bushwick
Most Likely To: Start Their Own Venture Capital Film
“It’s great to be here. It’s great to be anywhere.”
― Keith Richards
Feb. 10
Samarth Bhaskar, 29
Senior Editor & Digital Transition Strategy, The New York Times
Prospect Heights
Most Likely To: Fall Asleep at Their Own House Party
“I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.”
― Rabindranath Tagore
Feb. 11
Sam Escobar, 28
Deputy Digital Editor, Allure Magazine
Williamsburg
Most Likely To: Smile At A Dog On The Sidewalk Rather Than The Owner
“Heart leaking something so strong, they can smell it in the street.”
― Marty McConnell
Feb. 12
Sara McDonald, 26
Composer & Vocalist
Kensington
Most Likely To: Get Sick To Their Stomach During Something Important
“Don’t try.” (Meaning, do it.)
Feb. 13
Taylor Trudon, 28
Brand Marketing Manager & Reader Engagement, The New York Times
Cobble Hill
Most Likely To: Ask For Your Wifi Password Immediately Upon Entering Your Home
”Everything is copy.”
― Nora Ephron
Feb. 14
All portraits and videos were taken at The Tillary Hotel.
