Gregory David Bornstein

Gregory D. Bornstein
December 30, 1974 - January 28, 2026

Gregory D. Bornstein , known by friends and fans alike as Gregjaw, passed away at his home in Kingston, NY the morning of January 28, 2026 at 51 years of age.

Born in Florida at the tail end of 1974, Greg was a quickly developing creative and beneficial force to be reckoned with from his earliest days. Smartly adopted by Sol and Shirley he was raised in Edison, New Jersey along with his sister Alyssa. His childhood was difficult as he admitted to feeling misunderstood and at odds with his peers. Despite that isolation, Greg held a positive attitude toward the capacity for human connection while he took solace in music, literature, art, and film, preferring outsider and alternative forms of expression.

As a teenager, he found like-minded souls and entrenched himself in the Northern New Jersey/New York City hardcore and punk scenes. He expressed his rage, love of absurd humor, and hope for humanity by writing songs, singing and playing guitar in bands such as Kurbjaw and the Poo Poo Platters, and produced comical zines featuring his singularly styled drawings and writing. He also spent time supporting his family by working with his father at his business, Bornstein and Son Painting.

Greg continued his education, earning degrees in Music and Psychology from Rutgers University in 1996 and supplementing his artistic endeavors with difficult employment roles that always aimed to help those in need.

His desire to share his inimitable point of view continued to manifest in a great commitment to musical projects, performing his songs and releasing a string of self-produced recordings. Following his earliest aforementioned groups, Greg co-formed the short-lived Demoniacs, before moving to New York City and founding Thee Hallowteens, a three-piece band that he worked at tenaciously while holding down a high-stress job at Columbia Medical Center in Washington Heights as a counseling detox coordinator for recovering drug addicts.

Friends remember his irrepressible enthusiasm for performing as well as being a boisterous and uncontrollable fixture in Manhattan's East Village rock club scene in the mid-to-late 1990s and early 2000s. Greg remained a paradoxical figure throughout. He was unafraid to be the cause of a little well-meaning mayhem, but always ready to valiantly switch gears after a night carousing to rush to the aid of anyone in need: an injured cyclist on the ground, an elderly person having trouble walking, a woman being threatened on the street. He acted as a man of absolute empathy, readily showing kindness to strangers.

In the two decades that followed, Greg continued to perform with multiple bands including The Jamesons, Psychocharger, and later on, The Brickbats. But between his late 20s and mid 30s, he was committed to The Brides, a group with whom he recorded multiple records and toured across the U.S. and Brazil as a bassist, guitarist, and vocalist. It was at the start of this period that major events would change the trajectory of his future. Greg met the love of his life and future wife Krista Danielson and they decided to move to New York's Hudson Valley to enroll in graduate school.

While still writing and performing music, he worked at a home for autistic adults to partially finance his studies. Greg completed his Master's of Arts in Teaching at SUNY New Paltz in 2006. He eventually took a position at the Orchard View Alternative High School before transferring to Roy C. Ketcham High School where he taught English for 15 years.

In October 2005 Greg and Krista were married at the renowned and stately Mohonk Mountain House in the presence of family and friends. The newly wedded couple bought a house in Kingston, NY where Greg worked tirelessly on the landscape to design the home where they started their family, welcoming their daughter Violet in August 2012. It was during this decade that Greg began to explore his literary side with more ferocity and launched another band, Galanos, with Krista contributing on vocals—a sound that more directly supported his narrative vision and unique guitar style. He formed a book club at Rough Draft in Kingston, and met regularly with a writer's group to listen to passages and assist members with attaining their goals.

As the 2020s arrived, he began working more seriously on the completion of his novel, a brilliant poetic and meta-fictitious memoir titled The Failure, which he completed and self-published in 2022 after his unexpected diagnosis. As writing and music became more challenging, Greg refused to give in and continued to create, shifting gears into painting and drawing. He excelled in this medium as well, sharing his insightful understanding of the universe through color and form for as long as he was able.

Greg is survived by his wife Krista and his beloved daughter Violet of Kingston, NY; Eileen & Bruce Danielson, Eric Danielson, David & Lauren Danielson as well as their daughter, Emma; and by his sister Alyssa of Marlboro, NY, and the Eidelman family of Seattle. Additionally, he felt his family included all those he performed and recorded with, especially Julia Ghoulia, Corey Gorey & DW Friend.

An incredible presence, Greg must be remembered for strength and bravery, sarcasm and outlandishness, gregariousness and absolute care for his family, his friends, and anyone on this planet who ever needed a hand or an ear. Gregjaw will be greatly missed by all that knew him and, though they are not aware of it, he will also be greatly missed by those who never had the pleasure. We remember him through his words, his music, his art, his actions, and his unshakeable capacity for pulverizing the eternal absurdities of life into new joyous gifts.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to your local animal rescue, community center, hospice organization, or to https://glioblastomafoundation.org .