When Julian—a photographer, writer and historian—first arrived in New York City in 2003, he did what he always did: camera in tow, he hopped on his bicycle in order to acquaint himself with his adopted home. His discovery of dozens of former synagogues—some left to rot on residential street corners, others converted into lively, present-day churches —unexpectedly touched a nerve. As a Jew growing up in Germany, Julian was accustomed to abandoned synagogues, but such forgotten treasures in the Jewish capital of the western hemisphere seemed scandalous. Out of Julian's desire to bring dim portraits of New York's Jewish pasts into focus, JWalks was born. When Julian's not biking or walking the five boroughs—or taking pictures or researching his PhD in Yiddish literature—he's at one of his jobs as either the resource center coordinator of the Museum of Jewish Heritage or consulting for the Legacy Heritage Fund. Prior to moving to the U.S. he was the president of the European Union of Jewish Students, a 200,000-member, pan-European organization.

Rebecca was born in Brooklyn but was raised in Queens, a borough she once saw described in an Israeli travel guide as a place where "the people are dull and there's nothing to do." While Rebecca found this to be quite inaccurate (clearly they were not aware of the presence of such amazing cultural landmarks as Eddie's Sweet Shop, Kew Gardens Cinema, and the Czech Beer Garden) she nevertheless seized the first opportunity to move across the East River to the borough of Manhattan, closer to her school and place of employment. She has, at this point, no plans to move to Staten Island or the Bronx. When Rebecca is not j-walking, she is training for a marathon or watching the latest Netflix release. Rebecca is pursuing an MA in Cinema Studies at NYU, and hopes to one day find a way to put her degree to good use.

Mike's such a pro at jwalking that the letter J is his middle initial. A native of Rockville, Maryland, Mike led walking tours of the old Jewish neighborhoods in Washington, D.C. for the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington before moving to New York City in 2003. A musician by night and an outreach coordinator at the Museum of Jewish Heritage by day, Mike's favorite things about New York are its music scene--the world's best, he says--and the wonderful fact that here, even the hot chicks ride the bus. (Thanks, MTA!) A lover of beat literature, he resides in the East Village, among the ghosts Kerouac, Ginsburg, et al. In his free time you'll find him shooting hoops on the courts of Stuyvesant Town or downing a lychee martini or three.

Raised in a comfortable suburban home near Kansas City, Victor Wishna has retraced his Jewish heritage to New York, where he lives in a tiny apartment, works long hours to support himself, and dreams of one day having a better life—a sad undoing of everything his immigrant forebears achieved for him. A writer and magazine editor by day, his column of cultural commentary, "Letter from New York," is syndicated nationally in more than a dozen Jewish newspapers and on several websites. He is a founding staff member of Your World Publishing, a "heritage preservation and legacy management firm" that prepares oral histories and personal narratives for a diverse roster of family and corporate clients. Victor has also scripted audio tours for the Jewish Museum, among other institutions. And, named as New York’s third-funniest amateur Jewish comedian by The Jewish Week and described as "not bad" by his mother, Victor has performed at major comedy clubs and special events around the city. His proudest comedic achievement was actually holding the attention of more than 200 Jewish twenty-somethings while performing at an Upper West Side JCC singles event. He currently resides in Hell’s Kitchen, above his favorite sushi restaurant.

Deb was born on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, but was raised in South Florida (or "New York South"). In South Florida, she almost never walked anywhere and spent most of her time indoors dreaming of one day being famous. She received a bachelor's degree from the University of Florida in Gainesville, which she found to be fun place, yet unpleasantly swampy and alligator-ridden. After that, she spent time in College Park, Maryland, where she earned a Master of Fine Arts in Fiction Writing. She then moved to Sunnyside, Queens for a year, before relocated back to the Upper East Side of Manhattan, where she now lives with her husband and her enormous ego. She fancies herself a writer and web designer, but mostly she supervises people who work the ticket counter at a local Jewish history museum.