Remembering a Doyenne of the Williamsburg Shop Fronts

For decades, if there was an empty bench on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Leonora Russo was there to take it. With her electric dresses, chunky jewelry and oversize, Elton John-esque sunglasses, Ms. Russo was a familiar sight in the neighborhood’s ever-changing landscape.

If there is a tale of two Williamsburgs, Ms. Russo occupied the realm a…