The Brighton Beach area in New York is known among the general public as the place of the greatest concentration of our compatriots abroad. There you can meet people from all the former republics of the USSR. The area is famous for its original local delis, colorful advertising posters and distinctive culture.
Location
Where is Brighton Beach in New York? The area has a very advantageous geographical position. It is located on the island of Long Island, which is washed by the Atlantic Ocean, in the southern part of Brooklyn.
It is worth noting that time in Moscow is seven hours ahead of time in New York.
Excursion into history
According to the original plan of the businessmen who were involved in the creation of the Brighton Beach area, it was to become a resort where the main target audience would be Europeans and the local population. For these purposes, in the second half of the 19th century, a luxurious building was built in the immediate vicinity of the coastline, which was later moved due to the threat of a collapse. Also, for a comfortable stay for tourists, a long beach area with changing cabins, showers and baths was equipped, a wide wooden embankment with places to relax was designed, and a railway was built, which later became part of the metro.
All the ambitious plans of the businessmen came true, and at the end of the 19th century, a stream of wealthy tourists from all over Europe poured into Brighton Beach (New York). By that time, the resort had acquired its own hippodrome, casino and other infrastructure facilities.
Decline of the area
The decline came after the global economic crisis of 1929-1930, which was called the Great Depression. After it, World War II suddenly broke out. Due to these reasons, wealthy tourists from Europe could no longer come to Brighton Beach. The resort location was no longer in demand, and luxury hotels began to rent out rooms at very low prices and for long periods. Due to reduced housing prices, convenient location and developed infrastructure, a whole stream of poor people from all over New York poured here.
Waves of migration
In the second half of the 20th century in the USSR, after the death of Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev came to power, the so-called thaw period began, as a result of which the “Iron Curtain” was opened. Thanks to this, some people of our country (mostly of Jewish nationality) were allowed to leave its borders and return to their historical homeland in Israel in order to reunite with their family. But at the same time, conditions must be met, namely, the citizen who leaves the country had to pay the Soviet government a fee in cash (supposedly for his education).
Thus, many Jews took advantage of this right and left for permanent residence in America. So-called political dissidents followed them.
The second wave of migration of our compatriots to America occurred at the end of the 20th century and was associated with the rise to power of Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev and the consequences of the perestroika he began. The main goal of this political process was to reform the USSR, which ultimately led to the complete collapse of the country.
As a result, the Brighton Beach area became the "Little Odessa" of New York.
Development of culture
Currently, the Millennium Theater is successfully operating on Brighton Beach (Russian Quarter), which is the real center of Russian culture in New York. Its repertoire consists mainly of Russian-language productions, performances of ballet groups and meetings of the “Merry and Resourceful Club”, and many Russian pop stars come there on tour. Frequent guests include Lyubov Shufutinsky, and Maxim Galkin recently performed at the theater.
Also in Brighton Beach (New York) at the end of the 20th century, the famous school of Russian ballet was founded, the popularity of which has long gone beyond the borders of this region. The best teachers from the former republics of the USSR work there. All residents of nearby areas strive to send their children to them for education. Every few months, students of the ballet school perform in the theater, delighting the audience with both classical productions and new trends in the world of arts.
It is worth a special note that within the area there are several publishing houses, thanks to which our compatriots in New York read newspapers and magazines in Russian.
Runglish
The real phenomenon of the Brighton Beach area is the language spoken by the locals, a sort of mix of English and Russian. They even gave it a name - "Runglish". This phenomenon is widespread not only in the Brighton Beach area, but also in modern Russia. The term itself dates back to 2000, when the Russians and Americans worked on a joint space project. The author of the long-established definition is cosmonaut Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev, who, after communicating with American colleagues, gave an interview to journalists, where he noted that the conversation took place in “Runglish.”
Experts seriously fear for the purity of the Russian language, as cultures are mixed, and many English words seep into our language, becoming firmly rooted in it.
Brighton Beach today
Currently, Brighton Beach has begun to actively develop. The area has a very advantageous location along the Atlantic Ocean and a long beach coastline. Therefore, in the summer, residents from all over New York flock here to take a break from the bustle of the city, drink a cocktail and sunbathe. Enterprising businessmen decided to take advantage of this and began building modern residential complexes near the beach area. Many city residents and wealthy Russians were actively buying apartments in the still unfinished complex. The successful project attracted investors, and it was decided to begin construction of a new residential complex.
Thus, Brighton Beach will soon acquire a developed infrastructure, which will include several modern residential complexes, restaurants and cafes, it is planned to develop children's playgrounds, and a project to improve and repair the embankment and beach area is being considered.
A quarter of the city located in the south, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean.
The quarter is known as a zone of compact residence of the Russian-speaking population - immigrants from the times of the USSR and later from the CIS countries.
According to the last census conducted in 2007, the Brighton Beach area has a population of 75,700 people, but due to the large number of illegal migrants living in the area, the real figure is about 90,000 people.
In the summer, due to the fact that many New Yorkers temporarily move to the ocean coast, including Brighton Beach, the population of the area increases even more.
Brighton Beach began to develop in 1868 by a group of American businessmen as a resort area on the ocean coast. As a result, a loud name was chosen for it, borrowed from the resort town of Brighton in England.
The central object of the resort was Brighton or the Brighton Beach Hotel, located on a sandy beach a few tens of meters from the coastline. To develop the resort area, businessmen financed the construction of a railway line to the area, which opened to traffic on July 2, 1878.
After several winter storms, to avoid the threat of the hotel being washed away, an engineering plan was developed to move it 160 meters further from the ocean coastline. Several dozen rails and 112 cast-iron rail bogies were driven under a building measuring 43 x 40 meters and, using six steam locomotives, they moved it to a new location. The transfer project began on April 2, 1888, continued for 9 days and ended in success, thus becoming the first such engineering undertaking in the world.
In 1920, when the railroad connecting the area with Manhattan was integrated into the structure, Brighton Beach received a new impetus in development and became one of the most densely populated areas of Brooklyn, built up with the same type of cheap housing.
During the Great Depression, due to the low cost of housing in the area, it was flooded by the poorest residents of New York and the area finally acquired the status of the poorest quarter of the city with dirty streets and a high crime rate, populated mainly by African Americans. However, when the first wave of immigrants from the Soviet Union began to arrive in New York, the city authorities decided to place them on Brighton Beach, thereby diluting the population of the area with sufficiently educated people, thanks to which the area began to develop again.
The second wave of immigration of the Russian-speaking population rushed to Brighton Beach in the 90s, immediately after the collapse of the USSR, it finally secured the title of Russian for the area. The area began to develop with renewed vigor, many shops, cafes, schools, kindergartens appeared, the Millennium Theater was built, where Russian stars mainly gave concerts.
And after some time, prestigious housing began to be built on the ocean shore, where apartments were purchased by many famous cultural and show business figures from Russia, as well as simply Russian-speaking, wealthy businessmen.
Today, the area is rapidly developing and being built up; New Yorkers have changed their attitude towards Brighton Beach and not only come for a beach holiday but also buy housing under construction, the cost of which, although it has increased significantly, is still far behind the prices of Manhattan.
PUSH
I would not like to offend my fellow countrymen, but at the same time, I would like to honestly express my opinion here, for you, my readers and guests of New York. Brighton still seems like an extremely boring and gloomy area to me. One of the attractions is the Millennium Theater (address: 10-29 Brigton Beach Ave, Brooklyn NY 11235), where our artists actually perform weekly, despite its loud name, it is more reminiscent of a cultural center in a provincial Russian city.
However, it is necessary to make a reservation that everything said does not apply to the summer season, since Brighton beach is the most comfortable and clean in New York, in addition, it is quite easy to get there from Manhattan, the journey will take no more than 40 minutes. In summer, the Brighton Beach coast is a great place for sunbathing, swimming or a glass of beer in one of the Russian coastal beaches.
Today we will go to the Russian region, where Jewish emigrants from the USSR live compactly, and which the locals call Little Odessa. Welcome to Brighton Beach, the cradle of the Russian-speaking diaspora in New York.
The first settlers appeared here in the 1970s, after the USSR allowed Jewish emigration to Israel in 1971, under the official wording “for family reunification.” To the surprise of the Soviet authorities, there were many more people willing to give up a happy socialist future than expected. Therefore, even those leaving legally became traitors to their homeland, and the word Jew itself was replaced with “Soviet citizens of Jewish nationality.”
Those wishing to leave the Union underwent a thorough check and paid compensation for education, upbringing and other “bread and salt” received from the generous country. Usually, to do this, you had to sell your home and other property, especially since you couldn’t take it with you anyway. As a result, emigrants went abroad with a clear conscience and pockets. Some did remain in Israel, but most went in search of a better life in America, in New York. Brighton Beach was chosen as the new home; the decisive role was played not by the proximity of the ocean, but by low housing prices; at that time, Brighton was one of the poorest areas of New York. In 1973, the mass exodus was stopped, but the prerequisites for the next waves of emigration had already been created, and the community had already been formed.
Gradually, Brighton Beach turned into a prosperous area, largely thanks to the diaspora of immigrants from the former USSR. But there are still many problems, more than a third of the population speaks little or no English, while the average for New York City is 7%. The standard of living for most of the population of Brighton Beach is low. Incomes are below the New York City average.
The area welcomes guests with a modest inscription:
Many people think that Brighton Beach is one street under the metro overpass, in principle there is some truth in this, it is there that all the cultural and business “Russian” life is in full swing, but the area itself is a little larger. And we'll start our walk on Brighton beach. It's a little deserted here in winter.
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The residential area and the beach are separated by a boardwalk, the Rigelman Promenade, or as the locals call it, the “boardwalk.” The boardwalk connects Brighton Beach with the neighboring area of Coney Island, where the famous amusement park is located.
Among the attractions is a restaurant where annual hot dog eating competitions are held. Unfortunately, we arrived a little early, but we still have time to get in shape.
Local residents sometimes complain that life here isn’t easy either; municipal authorities, like everywhere else, steal and cut through the budget. These toilets on the embankment were pointed out contemptuously as an example. They say each one cost a couple of million. So far, the closets have not been put into operation and it is unknown when this long-awaited moment will come. Perhaps officials are afraid that savvy Brightonians (or Brightonbeachites) will immediately understand whose toilets their taxes were spent on.
Let's take a little away from the embankment. The area does not please the eye with any special beauty. By the way, the film and book "Requiem for a Dream" take place right here in Brighton. Don't think that we are hinting at something, it just came to mind.
Brighton was not always a poor area; it was originally conceived as a resort town, and even received its name in honor of the resort of the same name in England. And I must say that things were going very well in the area, wealthy Europeans were heading here in droves. A beautiful embankment is all that remains of its former success.
Unfortunately, the Great Depression turned positive into negative, and until the late 1980s, Brighton became one of the most disadvantaged areas of the city. Somewhere around this time, Donald Trump’s company began densely building up the area with social high-rise buildings. By analogy with the “Khrushchev buildings” still fresh in memory, the new houses were immediately dubbed “Trampovki”. The trumpets were transferred to the city for free use for a period of 40 years. After this, the residents had to either buy their homes or be evicted. The topic turned out to be working and Donald Trump is slowly but steadily becoming the owner of precious New York land.
If you don’t look closely, you won’t understand that you are in New York, and not in a residential area of some of our cities. Unless they park in the yard more civilly.
Yes, and one cannot fail to note the concern for the safety of the younger generation; a vigilante is always on duty near the intersection near the school:
We head to Brighton Beach Avenue, the main street, where all the business and shopping life of the area is concentrated under the subway overpass. There are few permanent residents on the street; few people want to live next to the 24-hour New York subway. All the houses along the street are occupied by shops and offices; the range of services provided is very diverse, from inexpensive calls to the former homeland to fortune telling:
Where would we be without Russian signs, in the Russian region? American pharmacies (even in Brighton) have an interesting feature. It is difficult to buy medicine there, but you can easily buy soda or shampoo. Without a doctor's prescription, they will only sell you some analogue of aspirin, but even if you have a prescription, it is not a fact that the necessary medicine will be available. To somehow compensate for lost profits, pharmacists began selling household chemicals and snacks. This is how people have been saved for 70 years.
Traditional pharmacies compete with their herbal counterparts. So if you want to buy herbal shampoo, washing powder with the freshness of alpine meadows or soap with the aroma of lavender, then go to the herbal pharmacy:
Russian speech can be heard all around, and our people are recognized subconsciously, by some special facial expression and style of clothing. According to conservative estimates, about 500 thousand Russian speakers live in New York. Some of them even complain that they spoke much better English before moving to America. American companies don’t interfere with someone else’s monastery with their English signs and also speak Russian.
Fans of Soviet films will not be offended. In general, you can’t help but feel like you’re about to run into Sergei Bodrov’s character from the movie “Brother 2” on the street:
Along with the Russians, Russian fashion also moved here.
If the owner cannot come up with an original name for the store, then you can simply write “Russian store” and the clientele will trample:
The goods are mainly imported, from Ukraine, Russia and Belarus.
For newcomers and those homesick for their homeland, supermarkets have special “Smooth Assimilation and Rehabilitation” departments, where you can buy homemade jams and preserves:
Interesting story about bread. The fact is that Americans eat toast bread, which is very soft and not very suitable for making sandwiches unless it is first toasted in a toaster. But this is not America, but Brighton Beach, so normal Russian bread is sold here, albeit prepared in an American factory. Once upon a time, bread was imported from abroad, but along the way it became stale, spoiled and, as a result, was not in demand.
There are goods from Poland:
In addition to high-rise buildings, there are also low 2-5 storey buildings. The presence of an air conditioner is one of the signs that a Russian lives in the apartment; usually they simply install a centralized air conditioning system:
Street selling delicacies:
Theater box office. Local residents enjoy going to concerts of popular and not very popular artists overseas:
There will probably be a full house at Galkina:
Next to the box office there is a boutique where you can immediately dress up for the concert:
"And what do we have here?"
This is a historical development, it appeared even before the active colonization of the area by our former compatriots. The fire escapes have not yet been glazed:
A little away from Brighton's main artery, Brighton Beach Avenue, the usual one-story Americana begins.
Monotonous buildings are sometimes diluted with small high-rise buildings:
Unlike Manhattan, garbage is collected in containers:
Well, at the end of our walk, we probably need to draw some conclusions. While walking around Brighton, a strange feeling never left us; later we agreed that it was not tenderness or the joy of meeting our native culture in a foreign land, it was rather nostalgia. Nostalgia for the past. Brighton is more reminiscent not of Little Odessa, but of Little USSR. It was built by people who left the real USSR, but were never able to rebuild. Therefore, they built their comfortable USSR (or something close to our 90s) with sausage and household appliances, and now they live in it for their own pleasure, without visiting other areas of the city for years.
Next time we will look at how assimilation occurs in the Chinese and Italian quarters.
Between 50 and 70 thousand Russian-speaking people live in the Brighton Beach area today. Photo: Pavel Terekhov
Brighton Beach is perhaps the most famous Russian-speaking area in the USA. It is also called “Little Odessa”. According to various estimates, between 50 and 70 thousand Russian speakers live here today.
A ForumDaily journalist spent one day with local residents of Brighton Beach to find out how this small “Russian world” lives now.
Russian-Ukrainian symbiosis
Dozens of subway stations separate downtown New York and Brighton Beach. One hour - and you find yourself in an area where they speak either Russian or Ukrainian. And here you can often hear a symbiosis of English and Russian. The most popular words in everyday use have become “otchardzhit”, “slice” or, for example, “four find nain”.
Here everyone knows each other, just like in the village. All you have to do is live in Brighton for a couple of weeks and they will greet you like one of their own. Russian hits can be heard from the shops every now and then. Well, where else can you hear the words from Lyubov Uspenskaya’s song: “Today you are shining in Brighton, and tomorrow, maybe, you will go to Broadway.”
On Brighton Beach you can get any information in Russian. Photo: Pavel Terekhov
The first Russian-speaking wave of emigration brought Jews here in the 1970s. Then, in 1972, the Soviet Union allowed Jews to emigrate to Israel for “family reunification.” The second wave occurred in the 90s. Many natives of Odessa appeared here. At that time, almost half a million people moved from Ukraine to Brighton Beach. This is evidenced byarchival documents , which are still kept in the Brooklyn Central Library. Odessa residents are accustomed to the sea, which is why they flocked to Brighton, where there is direct access to the Atlantic Ocean and an embankment for walks.
Elderly people sunbathing on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. Photo: Pavel Terekhov
The main thing is that the suit fits
One of the most prominent representatives of the first wave of emigration is Yakov Lyubarov. He came to Brighton Beach in 1978 from Moscow. Since childhood, Lyubarov loved to dress beautifully, so he almost immediately became a star in Brighton. Suits from Gaultier or Versace, shoes from Dolce & Gabbana - there are many stylish things in the wardrobe of the “Moscow mischievous reveler”.
Yakov Lyubarov is always dressed to the nines. Photo: Pavel Terekhov
Yakov came to New York with his wife and little daughter. They fled the USSR from the communist system. We received green cards right at the airport.
“When we arrived here, there were almost no Russians here. Maybe just a few families from Israel and Russia. We had $300. The Nayana organization helped us, then I got a job at an American air conditioning repair company,” says Lyubarov.
Life began to get better. Later, Yakov got a job driving a taxi, then went into the jewelry business. I could have moved to Manhattan, but Brighton became my home. He still remembers how he received the long-awaited American passport, and how he and his friends tried to obtain citizenship. Naturally, we drank Russian vodka.
“I want to say that Brighton Beach had its heyday in the 80s and 90s. Then the intelligentsia arrived from Leningrad and Moscow. Of course, there were also emigrants from Odessa. But after the collapse of the Soviet Union, other people already arrived. How should I put it? Not very good quality,” he shares his opinion.
Yakov received an American passport long ago and retired. He says he lives well.
“My pension is small: $700. But I also rent out taxi licenses. We have our own apartment in a cooperative. I never thought about returning to my homeland. I have lived in Brighton most of my life. If only to visit the capital,” Yakov says with a smile.
A few years ago, Yakov Lyubarov bought an apartment on Brighton Beach. Photo: Pavel Terekhov
Yakov loves to travel with his wife. They usually go on a cruise around Europe. France and Italy are paradise for fashionista Lyubarov. Yakov never returns without something new. The Brighton resident also loves to tell jokes.
“One guy says to a girl: “Did you give it to Petka for love or for money?” And the girl says: “Well, of course, for love! “Is 3 rubles really money!?” Yakov laughs.
At the end of our meeting, Yakov Lyubarov addressed tourists who come to New York and asked them not to forget to visit his favorite attraction called Brighton Beach.
And life, and tears, and love
Everything in Brighton is Russian: restaurants, pharmacies, shops. Not far from the Brighton Beach metro station, both in winter and summer, you can see a native of Ukraine, Maria Chernenko. For the past five years, in rain and snow, she has been selling food directly on the street. Maria told ForumDaily about how she ended up in Brighton Beach.
Maria Chernenko has been selling sweets for local residents for five years. Photo: Pavel Terekhov
Maria Chernenko won a green card and came to New York in 2011. She has children and grandchildren in her native Ternopil. Every year she goes to visit them and returns to Brighton Beach with tears in her eyes.
“I miss them very much. I earn money and send it there. This helps them a lot. My dream is to quickly get an American passport so that my children have a choice. I don’t know if they will want to live here,” says Maria.
It took her a long time to get used to the local mentality. It has already developed immunity to the dissatisfaction of Russian-speaking pensioners.
“There are different types of buyers, they are capricious. Everyone needs to prove themselves. I'm used to it. At first I thought I would go deaf, but now the train is coming again. But a person gets used to everything,” Chernenko says about the working conditions.
Maria is satisfied with the salary, but, of course, the woman does not hide the fact that she would like to receive more than $10 an hour.
“Our store owner is normal. In winter, he gives me a heater outside so that I don’t freeze. Do you know how cold it is here? Horror. But it’s okay, we’ll cope,” she says.
At this point in the interview, a man approached Maria. He left the store and asked her what she was talking about. The woman, as if blaming herself for something, tried to quickly answer him: they say, everything is fine, go.
But the man turned out to be very persistent and made his own statement.
“Okay, let’s get out of here. This is my woman. My love. What’s bothering you?” he addressed the Forumdaily journalist with a menacing look.
This is how our conversation with Maria ended. A second later she was busy selling chocolate bars, only managing to quickly wave her hand at us.
Brighton Beach residents are picking up free groceries that are about to expire. Photo: Pavel Terekhov
Boris is also a salesman. True, the man does not sell chocolates, but books from his own library. Russian classics, the man complains, don’t work at all these days.
“Don't ask me how are you? Badly. There is no business. No money left. At least there’s a roof over your head!” he points to his head.
Boris has been selling books for about 20 years. For him, this is his only income, the man complains. But, as it turned out, Boris is clearly not ready for a heart-to-heart conversation.
"All. Let's. Enough about me. We will survive. Even so. I still won’t tell you my last name. Guys, don’t interfere with work,” Boris said, burying his face in a book.
Boris doesn't really like talking to journalists. Photo: Pavel Terekhov
On Brighton Beach you can always listen to Russian songs performed live. Photo: Pavel Terekhov
As the locals say, “Brighton is so different.” Indeed, you can see expensive SUVs and luxury sports cars here. Among the people you will meet a man begging for alms, women in mink coats or girls in fashionable Italian brands and heels.
Brighton Beach resident. Photo: Pavel Terekhov
On Brighton Beach, women can always find shops that sell fur coats. Photo: Pavel Terekhov
Business lady on Brighton Beach. Photo: Pavel Terekhov
By the way, some ladies, without hesitation, can leave the beauty salon with a perm and curlers on their heads.
Inga Sokolnikova has been doing everything possible for 13 years to make the fair sex from Brighton Beach look more beautiful. She is a cosmetologist. Together with her family, Inga came to the United States 13 years ago and immediately settled in the Russian region.
“I have a Soviet school in cosmetology, so my clients are mainly Russian-speaking. I received a license here and, of course, I can work with Americans. But I love ours more, they are dearer. Russians are always ready to help those, for example, who have recently arrived in America,” says Inga.
Beautician Inga loves Brighton Beach. Photo from personal archive
It was not easy for a Kiev resident to start a new life from scratch. Now Inga has her own beauty salon. Sokolnikova says that clients, of course, are different.
“Somehow capricious and harmful clients are eliminated on their own. I am a fan of my work and always treat everyone with understanding. But recently they managed to offend me. There was a woman in the salon, she did all the procedures and paid with a credit card. There was $700. And two weeks later I receive a letter from the bank that the amount has not gone through,” Inga is perplexed.
It turned out that the client decided to deceive Inga and blocked her credit card. Now a lawyer is helping Inga find the fraudster. Despite such unpleasant stories, Inga still loves Brighton Beach.
“My husband also works in Brighton. I didn’t think for a minute about leaving here. To another area or another state. I just love Brighton. What kind of people are here! It's a pleasure to look at them and listen to them. And there is a beach nearby. It’s beauty,” Inga admires her place of residence.
Many of Inga's fellow countrymen also love Brighton. True, local chess players, for example, don’t really want to communicate with journalists. As soon as the sun appears on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, they appear on the street - men from Odessa - lovers of board games.
“What are we going to tell you? We joke here, play, enjoy life. Everything is fine with us. Everything is like in Odessa,” one of the players said laughing.
Board game lovers on the Brighton Beach promenade. Photo by Pavel Terekhov
Brighton Beach Property
The Brighton Beach area isn't just home to retirees. Young people also settled in “Little Odessa”. The main part are young people who have recently arrived in New York and started a new life. It is in Brighton that you can find your first illegal job and rent housing without documents. The cost of renting square meters, on average, will cost $1000-$1200 for a studio or one-room apartment.
Russian-speaking girls can always find their first job and housing in Brighton. Photo: Pavel Terekhov
At Brighton Beach tube station. Photo: Pavel Terekhov
Some young families not only rent property on Brighton Beach, but also buy apartments here. This choice is primarily due to the proximity of the Atlantic Ocean. According to realtor Sonya Ostrovskaya, Brighton is one of the best areas to buy a condominium apartment.
“This type of housing has its own characteristics, but, in any case, you become full owners of the apartment. And there is another plus - the opportunity to purchase a parking space, which you can use yourself, resell or rent out,” says the realtor.
Among the buyers are clients from Russia and Ukraine. Demand, says Sonya, is different for everyone. But today it is in Brighton that you can buy both inexpensive and luxury real estate.
“Prices here, on average, range from $550 thousand to $800. And expensive real estate can cost two million. For example, we are now selling three-room apartments in a condo for $1 million. The price also includes a parking space. This is all in the famous luxury complex Oceana Condominium & Club“,” Sonya Ostrovskaya shared with ForumDaily.
There are also plenty of offers for the sale of real estate. According to Sonya, older people are moving to sunny Florida, where they are buying houses.
Residents of the luxury residential complex Oceana Condominium & Club. Photo: Pavel Terekhov
In summer, Brighton Beach turns into a real resort. Most often, at this time, Americans want to get closer to Russian culture and traditions. In stores you can buy a hat with earflaps or Cheburashka, and for lunch try Ukrainian borscht. You can do this in the legendary restaurants “Tatyana”, “Volna”, “Primorsky”. On the website of the Tatyana restaurant it is written that you will not regret if you visit this place where “vodka and cognac flows like a fountain.” Such establishments as “Chinar”, “Domes of Samarkand”, “Caucasus” and many others are popular.
Former journalist for the famous newspaper The Washington Post, Robert Kyser, often comes to Brighton.
“Of course, I love Russians. And you have the most beautiful women in Russia. Brighton is such a small Russia. I even study Russian here. And your kitchen is simply a culinary masterpiece,” Kayser shared with ForumDaily.
Russian restaurants are expecting an influx of customers. Photo: Pavel Terekhov
Beach at Brighton Beach. Photo: Pavel Terekhov
You can always meet locals on the Brighton Beach promenade. Photo: Pavel Terekhov
Brighton Beach promenade. Photo: Pavel Terekhov
Residents of the Russian district of Brighton Beach. Photo: Pavel Terekhov
Brighton Beach residents are looking forward to summer. Photo: Pavel Terekhov
If you can’t try Russian cuisine in a restaurant, you can buy Olivier salad or Herring under a fur coat in grocery stores on Brighton Beach at any time. Regardless of the time of year.
Russian store on Brighton Beach. Photo: Pavel Terekhov
So for Russian-speaking people, living in Brighton Beach is the same as living in their homeland without leaving the USA.
Story
The history of the area began much earlier. In the 19th century, it was decided to equip the area as a beach resort, which was extremely popular among wealthy Europeans. The preserved ruins of columns, baths, etc. remind of past luxury. However, with the onset of the Great Depression, the poorer sections of New York society began to flock here. Until the 20th century, the area was considered unfavorable and unprestigious due to the large number of illegal immigrants and the high level of crime.
Brighton Beach today
Modern Brighton Beach is experiencing rapid change and construction, causing the area to grow in popularity among Native Americans not only as a summer vacation destination, but also as a permanent place of residence. Russian tourists should definitely visit Brighton Beach!
The first thing that catches your eye is the signs in Russian: “Odessa”, “Golden Key”, “Ukraine”, “Moscow”. In the windows there are shocking inscriptions like “Balyk is available for sale”; I remember the times with signs in kiosks: “There is beer”, although more often it was the other way around. However, few people read this sign. Whether there was beer was determined a mile away by the concern of people in line and the silent question in their eyes, “Which container should I fill?”
You won’t find stores like those in Brighton in Russia anymore. Nothing has changed here since the 80s. Just like in a museum. Saleswomen in nylon aprons scurry behind glass display cases filled with smoked fish, sausages and sausages. In some places, former citizens of the Land of Soviets hang out in queues, without which they cannot live. They will not be happy with any purchase without a queue. They should hang out, quarrel and buy something at the same time. In general, there is no doubt: it is not good where we are not, but bad where we are.
As you leave the store and approach the newsstand, it will seem to you that every family in Brighton has its own newspaper or magazine published specifically for them. The range of titles of printed organs in Russian is impressive. To the local printed publications are added countless numbers imported from Russia.
Finally, after walking around the area, laughing, taking photos, sooner or later you end up on the ocean boardwalk. There is no better time to walk along the last kilometers of the Soviet Union. Carefree old men sit on the benches, animatedly talking about something. They organically fill the space, just as once upon a time, all-knowing and all-seeing grandmothers sat at countless gray entrances, and their beloved grandchildren ran around. Intertwined with the sound of the ocean waves are memories of times with fantastically low prices and the absence of everything that was sold at these prices. The interlocutors continue to share their experiences of how they tried to get something in short supply for the family, to enroll their children in kindergarten, the best school. They argue about how best a private owner could earn money when the very concept was criminal. If you close your eyes at one point while listening, it will actually seem to you that Brezhnev is still the General Secretary. Perhaps Brighton Beach today is a single amusement park of the “Soviet period”. No need for Spielberg with his dinosaurs and expensive special effects. Just come and film your blockbuster - “Back to the USSR”!
Meanwhile, everything Soviet in Brighton Beach is grouped precisely on this limited stretch of ocean shore. This place is often called “Little Russia”. But if you go further along the pedestrian wooden embankment, then very soon, literally after a kilometer, the color of the beach bodies will begin to change, it’s as if you are crossing an invisible border, black backs and characteristic “Latinos” hairstyles appear. It’s not Russian guys who come offering drinks and food, but Mexicans and Italians. Hence we are approaching the famous Coney Island (Coney Island), where a huge Ferris wheel has been spinning for a century and a half and a variety of attractions amuse children.
Here, in huge aquariums you can see almost all the inhabitants of the Atlantic Ocean - from sharks and moray eels to turtles and shellfish - and in a special water arena you can see a performance with trained sea lions.
Coney Island's largest and most famous attraction is the Cyclone roller coaster, built in 1927 and recently declared a national treasure. (Cyclone Rollercoaster). In 110 seconds, the trailers cover a distance of 800 meters, reaching speeds of up to 100 km/h. And I must say, these 110 seconds are worth the five dollars spent on them. You can even ride for the second time in a row for $4, but there are very few people willing to do this.
Without going into details, the external impression of Brighton is more than pleasant. The people are cheerful, happy, carefree, as in Stalin’s films of the 30s. Meetings of friends and relatives, music coming from restaurants, someone's infectious laughter - all this together creates the atmosphere of a real holiday. The general mood can be transmitted to you. I want to go for a walk. The friends of globalism are increasingly violating the unity of the atmosphere, gradually reducing the length of the Soviet kilometer to invisible dimensions. Therefore, if time travel is your dream, then you should go bright now!
The main center of culture in Brighton Beach is the Millennium Theater (Millennium Theatre) (1029 Brighton Beach Ave), where guest performers “from the mainland” perform almost without interruption: from Zhvanetsky to Zhirinovsky.
Ten blocks north, on North Eleventh Street (North 11th Street), stands the patriotic citadel of Williamsburg - the Brooklyn Brewery (Brooklyn Brewery). Since the eighties, they have been brewing very good beer here, which is served in almost all restaurants and eateries in Brooklyn. Every Saturday there are free tours of the factory with tastings, and on Fridays from 6 to 11 pm they host Happy Hour and pour eight types of beer for $3 a mug.
How to get there
You can get to this area by metro, the final station of line “B” is called Brighton Beach (Brighton Beach), however, you will know when you arrive in this area by looking at the streets. “Our” faces are recognized instantly. Unlike “not ours,” everything is written on them: mood, marital status, wealth, attitude towards others. They are at least more honest than American ones; a smile is not automatically imprinted on them. If the owner of a given face dislikes someone, he does not need to open his mouth to express his emotions verbally. The face itself says: “Don’t come closer!”
By the way, our people dubbed the metro train flying over Brighton, as always, uniquely and indescribably in English - “a minute of silence” - it is impossible to speak to the sounds of rumbling iron.
There are trains with a circle on the number running from Manhattan to Brighton Beach. (that is, local) and with a diamond (i.e. express trains). Better to take the express.
