The Kid

Growing Up in Williamsburg

Listen to Antonio talk about his childhood in Los Sures

Antonio Reynoso was born and raised in Los Sures, Williamsburg, where he lived with his parents – both immigrants from the Dominican Republic – and two sisters in a two-bedroom apartment. Their home was always full of laughter and family. Every Sunday, first thing in the morning, his aunts and uncles were banging on the door to play dominoes. It was the best part of his week.

Antonio didn’t have much growing up. Section 8 housing, food stamps – if there was a public assistance program out there, his family relied on it. His father worked on a golf course and as a cook before opening his own pizzeria and a bodega. The pizzeria didn’t work out, and when his grandma got sick with cancer, his father had to sell the bodega to pay for her treatment. His mother worked at a cheesecake factory – not the restaurant but an actual factory that distributed cheesecakes. She lost the job when factories started closing down as residential development took over manufacturing. She has been a home health aide ever since.

Antonio’s story is a Brooklyn story, and his childhood in Williamsburg is a big part of who he is as an elected official. He spent his afternoons and weekends playing with the children on his street, and neighbors and workers at businesses in his neighborhood were like an extended family. Today, he lives only three blocks away from his childhood apartment but has seen his neighborhood completely transform. Making sure our borough can grow without forcing families like his out of the communities they’ve long called home is personal for him.