When I was 5 years old my family and I immigrated to the United States from Belarus. We lived in Williamsburg and would sometimes dedicate a whole day just to go to the beach on Brighton in the summer. Little did I know that one day I would live 5 minutes away from that same beach. After one year of elementary school in the US, I continued my education back in Belarus until 5th grade. This gave me a strong background in Russian traditions, language, and education. At the age of 10, I came back to the US to continue my education, and at that point, my parents already moved into an apartment on Brighton Beach, two minutes away from the famous boardwalk, and four minutes away from the water. It indeed felt, and still feels, like mini Russia. It is the only neighborhood where you can find people that lived in the US for over 20 years, and yet still lack basic English skills. It is the neighborhood where you don’t have to adjust to anything, you bring your own ideals and ideas. It is diverse in that there are Russian speakers from all over the world, but it is very secluded in that it is only Russian speakers. I’ve lived on Brighton for almost 10 years already and this project changed my viewpoint on the neighborhood and the people.
When I heard the many stereotypes associated with Brighton Beach I would sometimes get upset, as most of them would not be pleasant. Throughout the years I lived and shopped here with my family, yet I never got the impression that the people were rude and disrespectful, until now. I realized that although I lived on Brighton Beach for a long time, I was never truly a part of the community. I spend most of my time away from the neighborhood and therefore only had short interactions with its settlers and never truly noticed the unpleasant interactions.
Prior to the first field trip with my friends, I was very excited. We were going to conduct interviews and ask people about where they came from. However, it was the “people” part that completely ruined my idealistic expectations. Most of the people I approached were very rude and mean. Although I was ready for rejections, I wasn’t ready for the impoliteness that came with it. The first person I approached was an old woman with a walker who seemed to be taking a walk. “Excuse me” I approached her, “Can I please ask you a question?” “What?” she replied with an attitude. “What country did you come to the US from?” “Why do you need to know?” she replied rudely again. As I proceeded to explain to her that I need it for a project for college she said “No” in the nastiest voice, turned around, and walked away. I would’ve not used this situation to judge the people of Brighton had it been the only one. While jotting down people’s responses, I also jotted down the number of rejections received. And while we got 43 responses, we also got 8 rejections, and that’s about 16% of the total surveyed population.
I also noted that the whole population we encountered were elderly men and women, with an exception of a young tourist couple. “One need only stroll along the boardwalk to notice the disproportionate number of gray-haired babushkas and jowled older men lounging on its benches” (Kordunsky et al.) They mostly had unhappy faces on, were pushing each other to get through without remotely saying something even close to “excuse me,” “sorry,” or “thank you,” and I realized that this really is a rude population. Their rudeness spreads in a chain reaction, and I’ve witnessed it firsthand. When I walk into our out of my building, I tend to hold the door for other people (mostly elderly), and although a small number of them say “thank you,” the majority just walks through as if it’s a given. Other times, those same people see me coming, but won’t hold the door an extra five seconds for me, and that tends to get me frustrated. Subconsciously, I already don’t want to hold the door the next time for the next person because I am not looking for a rejectful response. I believe that this is what happens with the majority. When people try to be nice in stores or on the streets, they see that it’s not working, so they start acting the same rude way they saw others act before. Instead of being polite, they push each other and take it as a given that everyone should be out of their own space.
I felt that the elderly population created a secluded environment where any outsider automatically gets a rude treatment. Although I have a strong Russian background and excellent Russian language skills, I believe that I was an outsider to them because of the significant age difference. As Michael Idov states in his article “ The Everything Guide to Brighton Beach,” the neighborhood is “stuck between two worlds, with its own culture, slang, radio, TV, magazines, and illicit pharmaceutical industry (think less meth and more FDA-unapproved heart drops)…its secrets are still secrets, and its past is never far away.” I agree with that statement because upon settling in the neighborhood, the immigrants didn’t want to adjust and take on the American lifestyle, and instead, established their language, traditions, and culture. “The newcomers hailed from across the former USSR, bringing with them the accents, customs, and food that have come to define the area” (Kordunsky et al.). Brighton Beach is the only neighborhood in America where people will look at you weird and know that you’re an outsider if you come into a store and start speaking English. More than half of the people will not even understand you.
However, there was an uptake to my experiences on Brighton Beach. There were a few very lovely people that I got to talk to and interview who differed significantly from the majority of the population. I also realized that Brighton is a rich neighborhood facilities wise. It has a lot of trees, a park, a public library, stores, an afterschool facility with a lot of activities, a long and famous boardwalk, and a great beach. Once the weather got warmer, the atmosphere got lighter. On the boardwalk, people are dancing, singing, sightseeing, eating, drinking, doing yoga, and interacting with their friends. Although the people are old, they are active and I sensed a young spirit from them. Perhaps, the people I encountered were busy in their daily routines and were hostile because of that, because the ones on the boardwalk had a very different energy to them (both when it was cold and warm weather).
During my field days, I sometimes stood in one spot and observed. By appealing to the 5 senses I was able to intake and interpret Brighton in a way that I’ve never seen it before. Besides the unpleasant experiences, I also noted how relaxing and nice the atmosphere on the boardwalk and the beach is. I also noted how constantly loud the streets are during the day, with constant music, conversations, and train sounds. I touched the different textures on Brighton and was impressed by how much history the buildings carry. I was able to make conclusions and analysis based on the things I saw and became used to as a part of the daily living. The street vendors and ladies that sell pirozhki were always a mundane thing to me, but as it turned out, one of the biggest “cool” things for tourists visiting Brighton.
The article “An Air of Russia and Ocean Breezes” by Fran Pado reflects on the different activities one can do when on Brighton, and indeed, all those things are constantly going on. Although Brighton is a secluded community, it is one of a kind. It makes newcomers from the former USSR feel more comfortable due to the lack of the language barrier.
Once known primarily as a Russian-Jewish enclave, the neighborhood over the past two decades has taken on a more diverse mien as a new wave of Russian-speaking immigrants has chosen to call the area home. These newcomers are drawn by the gravitational pull of the common Russian language, which is itself a legacy of the Soviet education system (Kordunsky et al.)
People who come to live on Brighton are almost guaranteed to already have friends who live on Brighton. The strong community helps out in finding jobs and activities to do, and I think that’s great. Upon my research, I encountered a website for Brighton Neighborhood Association, which is an organization run by active leaders designed to help residents with “quality of life” issues. I was truly surprised to note how many services the organization provides (for elderly as well as for the youth) because in my whole living of Brighton I never knew an organization like that exists. It was a pleasant feeling to know that the community reaches out and tries to help its residents.
References
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>.
Michael, Idov. Published Apr 13, 2009. “The Everything Guide to Brighton Beach.” NYMag.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2017. <http://nymag.com/guides/everything/brighton-beach/>.
–, “Brighton Beach Neighborhood Association: Social Services. New York.” Brighton Beach Neighborhood Association: Social Services. New York. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2017. <http://brightonbeach.com/>.
