This project has had a significant impact on me because Brighton Beach is my neighborhood, my home. When starting my expedition throughout Brighton, I thought that my community was perfect because I never payed attention to the negative details. I always thought Brighton was a mecca for only Slavic people who escaped the former USSR. I always assumed that my neighborhood had people who were friendly and outgoing with every other racial group. I never noticed the negative aspects of my community because for some reason I just never seemed to pay attention to them. This Macaulay experience forced to dive deep into the problems that plague my neighborhood.
On my first journey I saw that Brighton is more family-orientated than I previously thought. Nearly every supermarket, store, and restaurant was operated and owned by a family that escaped the USSR sometime during the 1980s. It was astonishing to hear the stories of these immigrants who came to the United States for the same reasons my family did: a desire to improve their lives. The positive characteristics of my neighborhood were few, but they are definitely worth mentioning. If you are local who comes from a Slavic background, then Brighton Beach is mostly likely the best place for you to immigrate to. Nearly everyone there speaks Russian and Ukrainian and is somewhat friendly to members of their culture. However, if an individual who is non-white such as an African American or a person from the Middle East were to go areas that are predominately Slavic in Brighton Beach then these people would receive an unfriendly welcome. My community is slightly racist because a great portion of Brighton Beach consists of elders who arrived to this country from the USSR. Most of the people in the USSR were taught to believe that white people, especially the Soviets, are the dominant race in the world. It’s very hard to change the attitudes of the older generation; it’s something only time can heal. However, much of the younger generation is ignoring the stereotypes established by their parents, and this future generation of Brighton is becoming very liberal. Another positive aspect of Brighton Beach is that everyone is very supportive of each other. After Hurricane Sandy hit Brighton Beach every business was practically in ruins, and many homes were beyond repairable. As a resident of Brighton Beach, I witnessed how the hurricane made it impossible to shop or travel around because there was so much debris and nearly 2 feet of sand on the streets. But this disaster did not divide the members in the community; instead, it united them to help everyone who was suffering. I personally witnessed how locals helped clean stores and searched for people who could have been trapped underneath the debris. For almost a week everyone’s priority was to ensure the safety of the community. People gave out free clothes, food, and even provided shelter for members of the area. I am proud to be part of Brighton Beach because we are one strongly connected family that looks out for each other. One problem that I dislike about Brighton is that it is very dirty on the streets. The lack of sanitation was a major problem that I started to notice after exploring the streets and the boardwalk. People threw everything in places other than the trashcan. There were liquor bottles in a child’s park as well dog feces next to a Basketball Park. There are children playing in these locations, but nothing is done to prevent this littering or remove it. There was one partially filled vodka bottle next to a swing set that I found on my first expedition that remained there for over a month because I went back to check if it was still there—and it was, not surprisingly. It could possible that all this littering is due to the fact that there are not enough public trashcans to throw stuff out. When I ate the pirozhok that I bought from the street vendor I had to walk two blocks before I found an overstuffed trashcan.
Another aspect of Brighton Beach that I discovered was the impact that tourism has on the area. In the winter most of the businesses operate slowly because their clients consist mainly of locals. I asked one of the shop owners how important tourism is too his clothing business. One of the owners told me that he generates most of his yearly income during the summer and spring because of the influx of visitors. After a comparison of the activity of Brighton in winter and in the spring, I witnessed a complete metamorphosis of the entire community. The boardwalk in the winter is a desolate pathway that only a few people walk on because it is covered in snow and ice, but it gets very packed during the start of spring. The restaurants bring out tables for people to sit outside; families walk with their baby carriage; you hear a lot of laughing; and you can feel a euphoric vibe surrounding everyone. I felt like the way I experienced the five senses in winter was significantly different from the way I perceived them in spring. In the winter I felt like my senses were dulled because of the depressing weather, but in the spring everything changed. Restaurants such as Tatiana and Volna open their doors to the public once warmer weather arrives so that people can eat outside and enjoy the oceanic breeze. One commentator in an online blog mentioned that “you cannot go to Brighton Beach without having Vodka at Tatiana while sitting on the boardwalk and overlooking the ocean” (Fran). Brighton Beach is a place to experience an ethnic Russian culture that is unmatched elsewhere in this country. I did not enjoy Brighton in the winter, but I loved it in the summer. There was so much soul in the community. For instance, people sang Russian songs and everyone would stop by and listen. Even if one couldn’t understand the language, it was easy to tell that the song was meant to bring about happiness and love in the bystanders.
I’ve also noticed that tourism is an integral part of Brighton Beach now just as it was in the past. Hotels and amusement parks led to the creation of Brighton Beach as a vacation spot for people of all ages (Forgotten New York). Today, Brighton Beach still relies on tourism because the number of people who come there increases exponentially in the summer. When I was researching information about historic Brighton Beach, I discovered that “in the Eighteen Eighties, a person walking the length of the beach from Sea Gate to Manhattan Beach could have observed the complete scale of living standards of the day from lowest to highest” (Williams). I discovered that modern Brighton Beach still has a disparity of wealth. The side that’s closer to Luna Park has buildings that are not in good shape and the prices for the apartments within the buildings are below medium. According to the statistics website neighborhoodscout, “Brighton Beach median real estate price is $842,320, and the average rental price in Brighton Beach is currently $1,554.” These below-average apartments were priced around $300k for a one-bedroom, but the apartments at Oceania condominium, which are near Manhattan Beach, go for over a million. I believe that since Manhattan Beach is considered to be an upper-class community, this might influence the prices of that area in Brighton Beach.
When Hurricane Sandy hit Brighton Beach it was the most dramatic event that community has experienced, even worse than 1912 fire that destroyed the boardwalk. The damage Sandy caused was horrific, but the community got together and helped everyone in need. The amount of support that the community showed was intense: “almost 1,000 volunteers who have reached out to isolated residents and the distribution of 3,500 electric heaters, 62,000 blankets and 22,000 food packages to the homebound elderly” (Amand). Almost 5 years after the disaster, it’s hard to believe that the community recovered and is making progress forward. Another characteristic of Brighton beach that I started to notice after my expeditions was that immigration is still occurring. A third wave of former Soviets is arriving from countries in Central Asia. An Uzbek gentleman that was interviewed by a journalist stated that “they all come here, united by the Russian language. Brighton Beach — one could say it’s like a small Soviet Union” (Kordunsky). This project forced me to realize that despite living in Brighton Beach for so long, I didn’t know much about its history, its people, and even its present occurrences. My journey exploring forever changed the way I perceive my home, Brighton Beach.
Sources used in this Reflection Paper
Amand, Lisa. “A Year After Sandy, Brighton Beach Struggles To Get Back on Feet.” The Forward. N.p., 26 Oct. 2013. Web. 07 Apr. 2017. <http://forward.com/articles/186254/a-year-after-sandy-brighton-beach-struggles-to-get/>.
Anna Kordunsky, Ariel Stulberg, Bingling Liao and Michael Larson. “Changing Face of Brighton Beach.” The Forward. N.p., 17 Sept. 2012. Web. 07 Apr. 2017. <http://forward.com/news/162963/changing-face-of-brighton-beach/>.
Pado, Fran. “An Air of Russia and Ocean Breezes.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 26 June 2010. Web. 07 Apr. 2017. <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/27/nyregion/27stop.html?_r=0>.
Williams, Keith. “Brighton Beach: Old World mentality, New World reality.” The Weekly Nabe. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2017. <http://theweeklynabe.com/2012/07/29/brighton-beach-brooklyn-history/>.
–, “Brooklyn,.” Brighton Beach Brooklyn, NY 11235, Neighborhood Profile – NeighborhoodScout. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2017. <https://www.neighborhoodscout.com/ny/brooklyn/brighton-beach>.
