Brighton Beach
The Brighton Beach neighborhood is one of the most exciting scenes in New York. Located on the southern end of Brooklyn, Brighton is situated directly along the Atlantic Ocean, giving its residents immediate access to one of the most beautiful beaches in New York City. The Boardwalk is lined with first-class restaurants, bars, and amusement parks. Perhaps more defining to Brighton Beach than its vibrant beach scene is its huge population of Russian speaking immigrants. Often called “Little Russia by the Sea,” I truly feel like I enter an entirely different country whenever the subway brings me to Brighton Beach. As soon as you step off the subway platform you will notice that English is no longer the common tongue on Brighton Beach. In fact, I am often surprised if a person approaches me speaking in English while I am working or grocery shopping in Brighton Beach
Under the tremoring subway platform that runs along Brighton Beach Avenue are several ethnic Russian establishments including food bazaars, Russian book stores, and much more. More than half the stores on Brighton Beach Avenue are owned by immigrants that were once part of the Soviet Union, according to the New York Times. As for the night life in Brighton Beach, restaurants like Tatianna’s delight its patrons with authentic Russian cuisine and live Russian singing and dancing. Karaoke bars allow Brighton goers to enjoy all the latest Russian pop- culture (Kusnyer).
Brighton Beach is also home to one of the most legendary performance centers: The Millennium Theater. The Millennium Theater has featured numerous performances that reflect the Russian culture of Brighton Beach, like genius Russian violinists Vladimir Spivakov and Yuri Bashmet, Russian Ballet performances, and classical Russian theater productions. The Millennium theatre is versatile as it is ethnic, having performances by Ray Charles and several world Championship Kickboxing events on top of the authentic Russian culture it’s known to showcase (Mastertheater.com).
The influx of Russian immigrants to Brighton Beach started to occur during the 1970’s. The Soviet Union started to adopt a laxer emigration policy for its Jewish citizens. Many of the Jewish Soviets faced constant discrimination and antisemitism. Applying for anything in the Soviet Union required citizens to present their passports: those that were labeled “Jewish” were often put at a disadvantage (Lewin). “Sometimes I went to school and the kids would throw things at me and yell ‘Jew!’”, said Sasha Lyubarov. He faced a constant stream of anti-semitism. All the high-paying jobs were denied to him on the basis of his Judaism.
In addition, many Uzbeks and Soviets from the “Stan” nations came to America because of the economic conditions in the destabilizing Soviet Union. They thought they would find more opportunity and prosperity in America. Igor Sultanov, who I met during my afternoon shift at the Shorefront Y on Bright Beach Avenue said, “In Russia, there is always crisis. I used to have a big gym where everyone would come and exercise. All the [weight lifting] champions came to my gym but making a business in Russia is always very difficult.” This is what brought Igor to settle in the Brighton area in 1992.
Brighton Beach initially had little to offer its Russian Speaking immigrants in the beginning. Brighton Beach was stricken with poverty, arson, and drug trade during the period following World War II. Indeed, it was not Brighton’s liveliness that attracted the plethora of Russian-speaking immigrants that live there today. But just as they were in the Soviet Union, the Russian-speaking immigrants were unified by their knowledge of the Russian language (Kordunsky et. al.). Truly it would be hard to feel far from home when all your neighbors spoke the language of your home country. Finding work and networking was made easier for immigrants; the commonality found in knowing the same language made Brighton a tightly knit community. “I came here with only my suit cases with clothes in them. I did not know English,” said Lyudmilla Buda, the head lifeguard at the Shorefront Y for 22 years. “My whole life I taught swimming in Russia but here I had nothing. I made friends and they helped me get my license to work.” For Lyudmilla, the familiarity of the Brighton culture made it easy to adjust and assimilate into life in America.
Since the large influx of Russian immigrants arrived in the Brighton Beach neighborhood, it has seen much better days than its previous, crime ridden state. Since 1993, the 60th police precinct saw a 72 percent decrease in major crimes in Brighton Beach (60th Police Precinct). As poverty in the area dropped, the luxury condominiums Oceana were built in the early 2000s and became iconic parts of the Brighton Beach neighborhood. These high-income beach homes of course attracted the wealthy businessmen and performers of what used to be the Soviet Union (Wikimedia). Brighton Beach had almost been completely revitalized.
Life in Little Russia by the Sea is now much different than the life these immigrants had in the dying Soviet Union. Many former Soviets have stories of the everyday struggle of simply trying to acquire the most basic of food items in Russia. “I would get up very early in the morning just to wait on line at the store,” said Eliot Milskiy who emigrated from Russia in 1988. “I would wait for hours and when I finally got inside there was nothing. Some stale bread and some carrots on the shelf in the corner.” Now Eliot buys his food at the local Bazaar. To his great appreciation, the food in Brighton is plentiful and he does not need to awake in the early hours in the morning for fear that the food will be gone later in the day.
Many are appreciative of the work they have found in Brighton Beach when juxtaposed with the kind of work available in their former home lands. “My father worked in the mine for many hours a day,” said Kapiton Karabanov, who grew up in Siberia before moving to Moscow and then to the United States. “He would leave in the morning before I woke up and come back at night.” Mining in Siberia was a very arduous and dangerous profession. The mines were dark and it was hard to breathe. The risk for injury is high in the unpredictable mining setting where cave-ins are not uncommon. Kapiton, now a karate instructor, is happy to have taken the opportunity to emigrate from the Soviet Union.
Of course there is still much to be improved on, as with any New York neighborhood. Most of Brighton Beach Avenue, with all of its colorful and authentic Russian stores, lies underneath the loud and dirty subway Brighton Beach subway platform. “If I could get rid of one thing, it would be the train,” said Elizabeth Mestechkina who spent her whole life in the Brighton Beach area. “Every 10 minutes the ground starts shaking and there’s loud screeching noise from the train… the sun can never touch the ground because it is blocked by the train platform.” Many complain that the subway ruins the Brighton Beach atmosphere.
The wage gap in Brighton Beach has also been a cause for complaints amongst its inhabitants. Housing in the Brighton Beach consists of two different extremes: the luxurious Oceana upper class housing versus the remaining affordable housing, built when Brighton was struggling with poverty and crime. Oceana goers can enjoy beautiful views of the beach from their balconies, various amenities, and large, spacious living spaces. However, living in affordable housing is a much different lifestyle. “The building I live in is very horrible. It’s really tiny and its always very cold,” says Lior Agaronov, who lives in an affordable housing compound on Brighton 5th St. “The walls are made of really cheap material I think because they’re always breaking. I always have problems with the equipment like the lights and the elevators and we are always receiving very outrageous bills. The subway is always really loud and it wakes me up when I’m asleep.” Many of these problems are not present in the small community of Oceana. Oceana was built far from the subway platform and is far more aesthetically pleasing as a result. The buildings are new so residents face much fewer problems with utilities.
Despite the issues the Brighton Beach area has, according to its residents, it has seen much improvements since its earlier days of crime and poverty. Many of the people living in Brighton see a bright future for it and believe Brighton will continue to improve as it has in the past. However, its relatively homogeneous Russian community may slowly start to fade away. The number of people who qualify for immigration from Russia and other Russian speaking countries is steadily dropping. In addition, many of the later generations of Russian speaking immigrants are leaving the Brighton area. On top of this, Brighton has seen immigration from people coming from countries like Pakistan and India. All of these sudden changes lead many to believe that Brighton may not remain an all-Russian community in the future (Lewine).
Works Cited
Kordunsky, Anna, Ariel Stulberg, Bingling Liao, and Michael Larson. “Changing Face of Brighton Beach.” Forward. N.p., Sept.-Oct. 2012. Web. 5 Apr. 2016.
Kusnyer, Laura. “Guide to Brighton Beach in New York City – Russian Restaurants, Stores and Entertainment.” Nycgo.com. NYC and Company, n.d. Web. 10 May 2016.
Lewine, Edward. “From Brighton Beach to America; The Wave of Immigrants Began 25 Years Ago. Soon Russian Filled the Streets. Now, the Tide Is Ebbing.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 13 Mar. 1999. Web. 10 May 2016.
“DNAinfo.com.” DNAinfo. 60th Police Precinct, n.d. Web. 10 May 2016.
“Master Theater.” Mastertheater.com. N.p., n.d. Web.
“Brighton Beach.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 10 May 2016.
