Born in New York to parents Leonard Neufeld and artist Martha Rosler, Neufeld spent most of his youth in California (San Diego and San Francisco), and then moved back to New York City during his teenage years. He graduated from the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School in 1985 and Oberlin College with a B.A. in Art History in 1989. Shortly after graduating from college, he spent over a year backpacking with his then-girlfriend (now his wife) through Southeast Asia and Central Europe, and living for a period in the Czech Republic.