5. Anthony Fauci grew up in Bensonhurst
Dr. Anthony Fauci, Chief Medical Advisor to the President who played a major role in the U.S.’s response to combatting the COVID-19 pandemic, was born in Bensonhurst. Fauci’s grandparents were mostly Italian immigrants who arrived through Ellis Island and settled on the Lower East Side and Little Italy. Both sides of the family later moved to Bensonhurst, and Fauci’s parents both attended New Utrecht High School. His mother Eugenia graduated from Hunter College, while his father Stephen graduated from Columbia University‘s College of Pharmacy. Stephen and some other members of the family opened Fauci Pharmacy, which was originally located in Bensonhurst.
Fauci lived in the Bensonhurst home until he was in elementary school, after which he moved to Dyker Heights. The family pharmacy moved as well, taking over a pharmacy that was previously called Coppola’s Pharmacy. The family lived upstairs in the second-floor apartment, and everyone in the family worked there; Fauci’s mother and sister ran the front, while Anthony delivered prescriptions via bike.