Durst was born in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City,[REF] a son of Joseph Durst, a Jewish immigrant[REF] from Gorlice, Galicia, Austria-Hungary (present-day Poland),[REF] and Rose Friedwald [REF].
His father was a tailor who arrived penniless to the United States, eventually becoming a successful dress manufacturer and then expanding into real estate management and development [REF].