Brighton Beach in New York. Brighton Beach is a Russian district in New York City Brighton Beach is the cradle of the Russian-speaking diaspora
Arriving in New York, the first thing I did not go to Manhattan with its lights and bright advertisements. I followed where hundreds of thousands of compatriots came to America for the first time - to Brighton Beach, the famous Russian community. Unlike them, I got to Brighton not from Deribasovskaya and not to live, but simply to visit.
The fact that I spent two months in the USA before I ended up in this "mecca" certainly influenced my impression of Brighton. The charm of this place, sung in books and films, was shattered into small pieces.
"Difficult years lay between Brighton Beach and Deribasovskaya" or why "Stirlitz uncontrollably vomited home" - in my today's report.
1. Brighton began to be populated by Russians in the early seventies. How did they manage to leave the country of the Soviets, how did the emigrants seep through the impregnable iron curtain? The fact is that at the end of the sixties, our dear Leonid Ilyich signed an international agreement, according to which "persons of Jewish nationality" received the right to repatriate to the state of Israel. With a few buts: those wishing to go abroad had to undergo a thorough check by all state security agencies that they did not take state secrets with them, the traveler was deprived of all awards and titles, and to top it all, he had to pay the Soviet state a huge amount - "compensation for getting an education." Like, we fed and watered you, and now you are leaving us? Pay! The Jews paid, giving away all the proceeds from the sale of property, apartments were given as bribes, as a result, even a well-lived family ended up at the airport with almost no money, but hung with a huge amount of unnecessary clothes, things, tape recorders, table lamps: everything that they did not were able to sell in the Union, but hoped to get at least some money for them in America. By the way, many formally left for Israel, with a connection in Austria, but then changed their tickets and flew to New York. Some really ended up in Tel Aviv, but then they still moved to America: the United States felt sorry for the Soviet Jews, the country offered them much better conditions than in Israel. 
2. And so they ended up in New York, knowing nothing and no one. Where were they going? Of course, it doesn’t matter to Brighton, where the second cousin of the great-niece, Sarochka or Sonechka, lived. As political emigrants, Jews were entitled to an allowance paid to them by the American state. 
3. America is a completely different world, a different planet, even now. I perfectly remember the feeling of my first days in the country, when everything is so different from the usual world, even if it is written in a language that I understand. But for the migrants from the USSR, absolutely everything was alien: both the language and the people, and the myth about the "animal grin of capitalism", which was already successfully cultivated. Well, in Brighton everything is in their native language, "their" people and institutions. All sorts of people left. Someone tried to quickly learn the language and find a job, in their specialty or start from the bottom. And someone successfully got hooked on the allowance, which the Americans so generously distributed to poor emigrants. 
4. But let's leave our compatriots for a while, and go back one hundred and fifty years, to the sixties of the nineteenth century, when this Brooklyn area of Brighton Beach appeared. This place was once popular with New Yorkers who came to the ocean beach to relax. Not far from the city, you can rush for the weekend, swim, play in the casino. For the convenience of vacationers, an overground railway was laid here, which later connected to the New York subway network. But there was no end to those who wanted to relax in Brighton, there were so many people here that the Sochi beach at the height of the season would seem deserted. During the years of the Great Depression, Brighton fell into disrepair: people did not have the means to travel for fun. Fashionable casinos and restaurants began to close, and hotels began to rent out their rooms not by the day, but by the month, for a penny. The poor strata of the population, bankrupt families and simply living on the verge of a living wage rushed here. Years later, this place was chosen by the first wave of Soviet settlers precisely because of its cheapness. 
5. What is today's Brighton of the twenty-first century? Yes, exactly the same as ten, and twenty, and forty years ago. The structure of the area lies in layers: on the right is the ocean, behind it is a sandy beach, on which there are not very many bathers even in summer. The beach is separated from the residential area by a hundred meters wide wooden flooring, the so-called "boardwalk" (broadwalk), inherited from the former resort. Behind it is a residential area of multi-storey buildings. Some have been standing here for a long time, but many appeared after the settlement of the area by Russians. Behind these houses there is an underground metro line. It is there that all Brightonian life "boils", and we will soon go there. But for now, let's take a walk around the boardwalk. 
6. Here, in America, I have learned to accurately identify types. It was Brighton who helped in this, but it is not at all difficult to recognize compatriots, and not even by facial expression, but by clothing and gait. Soviet fashion never gets old here. 
7. Here they dress in a very special style, which is inherent only to immigrants from the USSR: incompatible colors and styles, a cap and trousers from a suit - this is normal for Brighton. 
8. Wherever you look - there are such colorful characters around that the camera does not have time to process the captured cards. What are people doing on the beach? That's right, rest. No one swims - and it's not that the Atlantic is cold at the end of May, they just haven't swum before, there is a sea in Odessa too, but it's the sea for them, "like a stoplight for a hare." 
9. Some dare to take sunbaths. 
10. This tracksuit and swimming trunks seem to have been brought back to the USSR and are still preserved. 
11. The height of the working day, but there are a lot of people on the beach. One would think that they joined the American movement of Leuters (people who sit and do nothing), but our former fellow citizens are not so primitive: they read, communicate with each other. 
12. Old people playing board games are a common sight in many Soviet courtyards. This is communication, and if they play chess, it is also training for the brain. But how wild it was to see people moving figures all day long and banging their knuckles on the table - after I saw the leisure of American pensioners: a swimming pool, a gym, a club, a theater, an amateur concert for themselves or travel .... 
13. Although the establishments are adapted for local residents, Brightonians do not visit cafes and restaurants without a reason. How is it so - go to drink coffee? To bring from home in a thermos to the beach - not everyone will guess either. 
14. So the tables of the Volna, Tatyana and Primorsky restaurants are empty until late in the evening, where, as before, chic balls with herring and concerts of obsolete stars are sometimes held, but less and less: entertainment costs money, and for everyday Former Soviet people who have become Americans have no money for a holiday. 
15. After two months of "one-story" America, it was very unusual for me to look at the city of skyscrapers with yards fenced with fences. But the main difference between Brighton and the whole country is that having left for America, these people brought with them not only old fur coats and records, they brought their own vision of the world, which they could not part with. 
16. Chinatown or the Italian district (and there are such national quarters in almost any major city) is much more like America than Brighton Beach. Only signboards and colloquial speech on the street differ there, and the architecture of buildings is also different here. 
17. Old houses, which are almost a hundred years old, of course, are quite American, although here you can find air conditioners on the facades, a distinctive feature that hints at the ethnic composition of the inhabitants of the house. In America, even in old houses that were not equipped with air conditioners, residents usually chip in for the installation of a central system, but here someone refused, someone was not at home, as a result, white lattice boxes stick out of the brown windows of a red house. 
19. And one Brighton house reminded me of classic Soviet twelve-story towers. This house seems so alien here, and even though there are not twelve floors, the similarity is obvious. 
20. What should cause nostalgia - causes rejection. A freshly beaten carpet on the balcony, thrown into the trash and a TV set necessarily smashed with a hammer - so that no one gets it. 
21. But the main life of Brighton, as I wrote before, is in full swing under the New York City Subway overhead railway line. This is one of the most remote areas of the city, more than an hour by train. You go down - and you find yourself in the very center of commercial, business, cultural, religious, and simply Brighton life. I came here by car and I had some time to get used to the local realities. But life "under the subway" shocks anyone. 
23. Here it is - an extravaganza of Russian plates and signs. You feel wild after two months of not seeing anything in Cyrillic! 
25. According to local customs (well, America after all) almost everything is translated into English. Yes, that's right, from Russian to English. At the same time, both in one and in the other language, as a rule, it is written clumsily. 
26. Many signs hint at strange, or even not quite legal, deals. For example, you may be given a lecture on how to avoid taxes or save on bills. Driving school is quite legal, but in America they are not as common as we are. Therefore, here you will be read a five-hour lecture, having learned which you can go to pass on the rights, and even give the car a ride. 
27. And of course, only in Brighton you can find things that are wild for the rest of America, but so familiar to Russia. 
28. Sometimes here you can find brands that are common in America, for example, Walgreens, a chain of grocery pharmacies, but even it is adapted for the Russian-speaking population. 
29. The grocery supermarket is also a thing of the past: there are almost no such stores left even in Russia, in America and even more so, and in Brighton this "deli" from the nineties is the place. 
30. In none of the American stores you can find such "luggage offices". It is logical that if a person comes to the store with a backpack or a bag, it is so convenient for him. At the grocery store, they make you put everything in these trays. And the first phrase that the store employees greet you with when they see the camera on your neck is "It's forbidden to shoot here." I had to go to the store owner and explain who I am and why this is necessary. The owner turned out to be adequate and allowed me to take pictures in his deli. 
31. Oh, how many familiar goods are here! Even the price tags are written by hand, except that the price is still in dollars. 
32. Some of the goods came here directly from Russia, and some, perishable, are made here, in Brooklyn, but according to "old Russian recipes." The residents are happy. 
33. What happiness it is to buy sausages without meat and sausage, where there is more fat than sausages! Needless to say, there are simply no other shops in Brighton? 
34. Suddenly, a young guy of Asian appearance appeared on the horizon. "We can't take pictures!"
- Why? I drove half of America and no one ever asked me to remove the camera, what do you have here secret, expired goods?
- No, I have nothing against - the guy immediately retreated. - Leadership swears.
After assuring the deli worker that I had settled everything with his management, I began to question him about life. It turned out that the guy had recently arrived from Kazakhstan to earn some money. He plans to return in a couple of years. "Well, there's a house, a family, a mother. They won't come here." He does not like Brighton, he says that everything is almost the same as at home, only there is a sea and expensive cigarettes. He never traveled beyond the borders of Brooklyn.
35. In the grocery store you can buy ready-made food, of course, Russian dishes: cutlets, potatoes, pancakes, sauerkraut, cucumbers and watermelon. 
37. At the height of the working day, only a couple of cash desks work, queues form. Credit cards are accepted only at two checkouts, at the rest "cash only". The cards are "charged" very reluctantly, the cashier has a handwritten announcement that the minimum amount for paying with cards is $10. So, by the way, everywhere in Brighton. Sometimes you will still be persuaded to pay in cash: "What are you, a fool, to pay taxes. But for dollars I will sell you like that, without taxes." By the way, no one could explain the reason for the minimum limit to me, when I said that they were violating the law, they simply shrugged their shoulders. 
38. From this grocery store I wanted to run wherever my eyes look. But there is nowhere to run - all around is the same Russian ghetto. 
39. Yes, ghetto is perhaps the most correct word. As in any "bad area" of America, it is very dirty here. The only difference is that I understand the speech of these people, so you can move around here relatively calmly. 
40. Sample of Brightonian language. Read carefully all the announcements, get a fan! 
42. 
43. A lot of "post offices". Of course, this is not real mail - not USPS, not DHL or FedEX. These small desks are engaged in sending anything to their historical homeland. As a rule, such a package will cost 15-20 dollars, which is much cheaper than sending it by regular mail. And, as a rule, faster - all this is done through lured Aeroflot and Aerosvit (in the case of Ukraine) stewardesses. 
44. I didn’t dare to dine in Brighton, but those who tried it say that the service is long, half of the menu may not be available, and they can easily be rude. I'm not surprised. 
45. Street trading is some kind of scourge of our people. Well, why is it necessary to arrange a collapse of dirty tables, why is it impossible to build at least a small shopping center or a shop? 
46. Although there are shops here too. Colorful and ineptly decorated, with a mixture of all possible and impossible things, in the style of Indian trucks: the more different things, the better. 
47. Inside the bookstore. 
48. "This music will last forever - if I change the batteries." By the way, how do you like Alla's old CD for $15? Nothing will stop the fans. 
49. After an hour of walking "under the metro" from Brighton, you start to get tired, your head hurts. So many colorful and incompatible things... 
50. You start to get tired of faces. Not joyful, with dull eyes ... it seems that all of these people died, and just now and at once. 
51. The backyard of this place is indistinguishable from a typical street in almost any Russian or Ukrainian city. Everything is shabby, there is rubbish on the street, but the parked cars are all Mercedeses. 
52. Here you can find many different pharmacies, but not everyone will understand that a pharmacy in America is not a pharmacy at all, and even Brighton has to reckon with this. In the so-called "pharmacy" you can buy toothpaste, washing powder or soda, and from medicines, at best, they will sell you a remedy for a head or constipation. The sale of serious medicines is only by prescription, and not every "pharmacy" has such a product, the doctor usually gives a list of addresses where you can buy the prescribed drug. Why does the pharmacy have everything but medicines? This story goes back almost a century, when pharmacists themselves crushed their powders in a mortar and mixed potions. But large companies appeared that began to produce medicines at factories and sell ready-made products to pharmacists. The business of pharmacists was on the decline, and they had to somehow get out. So the pharmacists began to fry scrambled eggs and squeeze juice from oranges. The man came for pills, and at the same time he ate. In the sixties, pharmacies were no longer cafeterias, but they began to sell food and light snacks, the so-called "junk food - garbage food." Since then, it has become a custom: in an American pharmacy you can not buy antibiotics or fresh meat, only soda, chips and shampoo. 
53. There are a lot of signs and funny signs on Brighton Beach, you can’t write comments on all of them. Enjoy without comment! And when you're done, we'll continue walking. 
55.
57. Ticket offices of the famous concert hall "Millennium", where famous performers of the Russian-Ukrainian-Soviet stage perform. Familiar faces that have long bothered everyone gather full houses here. 
59. Despite all my efforts, I did not manage to find a portrait of Putin here - the Brightonians do not really like him, but they monitor the situation in their homeland very closely, buying up books about crooks and thieves, corrupt authorities, Putin, Medvedev and Matvienko. 
63. Compatriots prefer to settle in anthills, of their own free will. Put bars on windows and iron doors, complain about loud neighbors and take out the trash in a fur coat and slippers. 
64. Oh, former fellow citizens! You were so eager to go to America, you so wanted to escape from the hated Soviet scoop, but could you escape from yourself? 
65. No, they couldn't. 
66. Perhaps some of you even tried to do this: learned the language, looked for a job. But starting a new life is difficult, the unknown is always scary. America gave you social security and pensions, which you were deprived of in the Union. Have you been called here only out of pity? So that you would sit on a bench like this, listen to a pocket radio (they sit together, but each listens to his own, they don’t know about the existence of headphones) and do nothing? 
67. This is a very sad picture - to look at those who wanted to change something in their lives, decided to give up everything and move to the other side of the world. What for? To simply change the "registration" without changing anything in yourself? By the way, it is impossible to calculate the exact number of Brighton Beach residents, they do not participate in population censuses. 
68. I got tired of looking at the teeming life under the metro bridge very quickly, and I went for the car, back to the beach. 
69. On the way to the parking lot, I went into a park in which several dozen pensioners were sitting. Almost all of them came here about thirty years ago, back in Soviet times. Now they play cards, backgammon, dominoes, read newspapers and grind each other's bones. Grandfathers were glad of fresh blood and talked with me with pleasure, not allowing, however, to photograph them.
You have thieves' power in Russia! They are all crooks and bandits!
- How I feel sorry for the Russian people! They could live so well, but the damned democrats (communists - underline as necessary) do not give them anything, they just steal and steal!
Phrases about how badly Russia surrounded me from all sides. These people, spending whole days on benches on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, gave me completely unnecessary information that I already knew. All attempts to talk about whether they like America and whether they got their happiness ended in failure: "Of course we like it! We are citizens of a free country, we have passports! But in Russia there is thieves' power!"
But no one went further than general words, these people diligently avoided talking about personal experience and success in America. Many of them never learned English and never left their area. No, once or twice in thirty years they were in Manhattan, but only when relatives came to visit them, speaking at least a little English.
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Which of the inhabitants of the former Soviet Union does not know what Brighton Beach is? Surely there are none.
From the very beginning, the favorite vacation spot of the inhabitants of the post-Soviet space should have looked like a resort village of the highest level. Even the name of this US region is associated with the city of Brighton - a popular resort town. But not everyone knows this.
Where did Brighton Beach begin?
At the end of the 20th century, a railway was laid and a respectable hotel was built on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.
But in the difficult times of the Great Depression that America experienced in the first third of the 20th century, the locals had no time for the development of the resort area. As a result, the first attempts to give the coast favorable conditions for recreation went to dust.
Instead of wealthy, thrill-hungry vacationers, Brighton Beach was visited by completely different segments of the population. It was literally covered by a wave of poor citizens. The Jews were the first to please with their appearance as emigrants.
Gradually, in the 1970s, Russians began to emigrate. In the early 90s, after the adoption of the law "On the procedure for leaving the USSR", tens of thousands of residents of the former socialist republics rushed to conquer the United States.
Brighton Beach is the cradle of the Russian-speaking diaspora
It is thanks to immigrants from the former USSR that Brighton Beach has become incredibly popular. With their appearance, their special way of life, they were able to turn this area into a colorful, picturesque place.
Once forgotten, deserted, with difficult living conditions, with gloomy streets, the area was able to acquire a completely new look. Now an incomparable special atmosphere prevails here. Once here, a person does not immediately understand where he is: in the States or the Soviet Union?
Shops at home
Skillfully combining the work of public institutions in the Soviet style and the widest range of products of Russian and American production, Russian emigrant entrepreneurs opened shops and restaurants. For example, "Moscow", "Furs", "Capital", etc. Massively opened preschool institutions and schools.
The Millennium Theater also operates here, in which stars not only from the CIS, but also from all over the world perform. Not far from the theater there is an amusement park, which was opened one of the first in the world.
The huge promenade of Brighton Beach
The wooden promenade is the real pulsating heart of Brighton Beach. Lined with timber, the road stretches along the entire coast of the Atlantic Ocean and is a road connecting the beach areas of Brighton Beach and Coney Island. The promenade bears the name of the famous American Democrat Edward Riegelman.
This grandiose boardwalk is considered the most popular place in New York. Here you can meet both wealthy emigrants and residents with an average level of income.
Modern Brighton Beach can be proud of its respectable resort area with good hotels and luxury residential complexes.
Coming to Brighton Beach, it will be surprisingly easy and curious for every native of the former USSR to plunge into the unique way of life and thinking of Russian emigrants who settled in these places many decades ago.
Beach at Brighton Beach video
The Brighton Beach area of New York is known in the ranks of 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 a unique culture.
Location
Where is Brighton Beach in New York? The region has a very favorable geographical position. It is located on Long Island, which is washed by the Atlantic Ocean, in the southern part of Brooklyn County.
It should be noted that Moscow time is seven hours ahead of New York time.
Excursion into history
According to the original plan of the businessmen who were involved in the creation of the Brighton Beach area, it was supposed to become a resort where Europeans and the local population would become the main target audience. For these purposes, in the second half of the 19th century, a chic building was built in the immediate vicinity of the coastline, which was later moved due to the threat of collapse. Also, for a comfortable stay of tourists, a long beach area with changing cabins, showers and baths was equipped, a wide wooden embankment with places to rest was designed, and a railway was built, which later became part of the metro.
All the ambitious plans of 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.
The decline of the district
The decline came in the wake of the global economic crisis of 1929-1930, which was called the Great Depression. After him, the Second World War suddenly broke out. Due to these reasons, wealthy tourists from Europe could no longer come to Brighton Beach. The resort place was no longer in demand, and luxury hotels began to rent rooms at very low prices and for a long time. Due to reduced housing prices, convenient location and developed infrastructure, a flood of poor people from all over New York poured here.
Waves of migration
In the second half of the 20th century, after the death of Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev came to power in the USSR, the so-called thaw period began, as a result of which the "Iron Curtain" was opened. Thanks to this, some people of our country (mainly of Jewish nationality) were allowed to leave its borders and return to their historical homeland in Israel in order to reunite with their families. But at the same time, conditions must be met, namely, a 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. They were followed by the so-called political dissidents.
The second wave of migration to America of our compatriots occurred at the end of the 20th century and was associated with the coming to power of Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev and the consequences of the perestroika he started. The main goal of this political process was to reform the USSR, which as a result led to the complete disintegration of the country.
As a result, the Brighton Beach area turned into "Little Odessa" in New York.
Cultural Development
Currently, the Millennium Theater is successfully operating in Brighton Beach (Russian Quarter), which is the real center of Russian culture in New York. Its repertoire consists mainly of Russian-language productions, performances by ballet groups and meetings of the Club of the Merry and Resourceful, and many Russian pop stars also come on tour there. Among the frequent guests is Lyubov Shufutinsky, and recently Maxim Galkin 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 performances and new trends in the art world.
It is worth a separate note that within the district 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. He was even given 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 Russians and Americans were working on a joint space project. Cosmonaut Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev, who, after talking with American colleagues, gave interviews to journalists, where he noted that the conversation took place in Runglish, is called the author of the definition that has long come into use.
Experts seriously fear for the purity of the Russian language, as there is a mixture of cultures, and many English words seep into our language, firmly rooted in it.
Brighton Beach today
Currently, Brighton Beach has begun to develop actively. The area has a very advantageous location along the Atlantic Ocean and a long coastline of the beach. Therefore, in the summer, residents from all over New York flock here to relax from the bustle of the city, drink a cocktail and sunbathe. Entrepreneurial businessmen decided to take advantage of this and started building modern residential complexes near the beach area. Many residents of the city and wealthy Russians actively bought apartments in the still unfinished complex. The successful project attracted investors, and it was decided to start building 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 equip playgrounds, and a project is being considered to improve and repair the embankment and beach area.
Perhaps no other place in America has gained such fame in the former Soviet Union as the New York area of Brighton Beach, where our numerous compatriots live. Moreover, among the “former” themselves, there are approximately equal numbers of those who consider Brighton Beach a zhlobsky and depressing place, but exactly the same number love this area and live there with pleasure, or come for a walk. Meanwhile, the region has become "Russian" since the 70s of the XX century, that is, a little over 40 years ago. Initially, at the beginning of the century, it was a fashionable resort, where poor emigrants could not even dream of living. The entire New York beau monde rested here and Frank Sinatra himself gave concerts here shortly before the outbreak of World War II. Everything collapsed just as a result of the war in Europe. Firstly, the US ocean coast turned into a closed military zone and German submarines scurried around, trying to break through to the shipyards of New York, and secondly, the economic crisis and the disappearance of European tourists. In the 50s and 60s, Brighton Beach, despite all its magnificent beaches, became a poor suburb of New York, a miserable outskirts of the already modest Brooklyn. Until ... until ours arrive!
From the center of New York, it’s quite far here, about 20 kilometers in a straight line and it’s most convenient to get there by subway, the station is called Brighton Beach, it’s impossible to make a mistake. Yes, and you will see our people still in the car, their percentage will increase as you approach the said station -
In the beginning, the first "Russians" in Brighton were, of course, Jews. In 1972, as a result of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment banning Soviet Jews from leaving the country, the United States imposed economic sanctions on Brezhnev's USSR. In the end, the Soviets caved in and allowed approximately 200,000 Jews to leave the country. Approximately half went to Israel, and half went to the United States, largely to New York and partly to Baltimore and San Francisco. But it would be a mistake to think that all Russian-speaking immigrants in America are Jews. Absolutely not. After the collapse of the USSR, about two million (!) Russian-speaking citizens arrived across the ocean, of which, this time, there were Jews, God forbid, if a third of the total. According to the general feeling of the residents of Brighton themselves (and I talked with 3-4 families), today there are even more ethnic Ukrainians here than Jews and Russians combined. Plus, over the past decade and a half, several thousand Georgians, Armenians and residents of Uzbekistan have arrived in Brighton. This I mean that not everyone here will understand and appreciate the jokes about the Jewess Aunt Rosa, but if you run into a Georgian, he will also twist a finger at your temple.
Why do so many of our own people in America hate Brighton Beach? First of all, because, having left the "Sovka" (not to be confused with modern Russia, because the main part still left the stagnant USSR), people did not want to live among those who are nostalgic for this very "Sovok". On the contrary, they wanted to live among Americans and become Americans as soon as possible. Not everyone succeeded, but such a theory has the right to exist. For example, without exception, all my relatives in the States and Canada (and there I have an incredible number of relatives, families, I think, fifty) do not like Brighton Beach.
My opinion? And I like it here. No, not the situation and the environment, I don’t care about the environment. I live now in Batumi and perceive most of the locals as part of the landscape, communicating exclusively among expats. No, I like Brighton to others, I'll tell you a drop further. In the meantime, just take a walk and the walk will inevitably begin from the metro station -
Brighton Beach Avenue is the very "Russian street" of New York. But this does not mean that our people do not live anywhere else. They don’t live on this street, it’s very noisy from passing trains. But, here all the shops, restaurants and social life of the area -
You can estimate food prices, but this is the price per pound. Let me remind you that 1 pound is equal to 453 grams of weight, in other words, multiply the figure by two and you will have a price tag per kilogram -
Newspapers seem to hint that the contingent is aging. Young people already read the news on the Internet and obviously in English -
Selling old books for $1.99 looks sad. People dragged their Soviet libraries to America with such difficulty, all these collected works of Chekhov and Turgenev. And all in order to then give them to junk dealers -
Movies on discs, the same yesterday -
But the topic of moving to America through a fictitious marriage is still relevant. A fifty-year-old bride will cost you about 20 thousand dollars, and for this money she will go with you to the immigration service for all the necessary 3-4 years, confirming that you still have love-carrots. Recently, however, brides for money have increasingly begun to pull on serious grandmothers by age, therefore, now a Mexican bride, or a Chinese woman, who herself has received a US passport for a couple of years, is more popular now.
About work. Here, a considerable part of the workers are plowed in according to a gray scheme, as in Russia and Ukraine. That is, officially you work, say, a third of the rate and you are charged 500-600 dollars a month. What, not enough? Did you think that here the salaries are 120 thousand dollars a year, as your familiar IT specialist from Silicon Valley told you? No, they work here for at least $7.45 an hour, but even with that amount they manage to "cheat" and give you a salary in an envelope. Simply put, not specifically in this institution, but in the whole district, salaries are only 1200-1600 dollars per month on hand.
But living here is relatively cheap. Renting a room in an apartment costs 350-500 dollars a month, and an apartment from a bedroom and living room is about 1000 a month, and even a little cheaper, for example, 800. This is a third of the cost of this, not just in comparison with Manhattan (there is five times more), but even with Brooklyn. For comparison, in Washington, my relative rented a studio for 2000 a month, far from the center. In this regard, living here is not so expensive, especially since it is one of the most expensive cities in the world.
Price tags in the restaurant -
Most of our people, as already mentioned, do not live near the metro at all (it's noisy there), but in these modern houses in the neighborhood -
Walking nearby, it is easy to note the contingent -
Shaking out the rug on the head of the pedestrians below is our everything!
And now I will tell you why I really like Brighton Beach. We abstract from Russian signs and the emigrant environment, okay? Switched? Now look how beautiful it is: fantastic beaches, elegant promenade, ocean, pleasant breeze, fresh air -
Yes, all this is Brighton Beach, and that street with Russian signs on the second line, right behind these high-rise buildings, a five-minute walk from the beaches -
What's wrong? Forget about our fellow citizens, no one forces you to communicate with them, and they themselves do not care about you, I assure you. Just be glad that you live in New York, one of the coolest cities in the world and not somewhere in the slum of the Bronx, but overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.
But it's hard to completely abstract, I agree. I have absolutely no bias towards emigrants, and I myself am an emigrant three times. But in some ways my relatives are right, life among people living in the past is harmful. This is a philosophical and sad topic, because it is no secret that most of these grandparents came to America as young guys and girls in the distant 70s and 80s. Not many of them can say that they are happy with their emigration...
What are the grandmothers whispering about on the benches? Yes, about the same thing that grandmothers chat about on a bench in Moscow, or Yekaterinburg: tests, Putin, pensions, grandchildren, Trump. There is nothing new under the sun.
This frame made me laugh. Drunk in the board, with the Russian flag on his ass. Cursing at the unfortunate dog: "Oh, you're a bitch, the same as your mistress, damn it!". The unfortunate animal tried to hide from him, but he cruelly pulled her by the leash.
And yet, Brighton Beach is rapidly changing. Hurry to where the spirit of Soviet Odessa is still preserved, while these colorful grandparents are alive. Another ten years, and Brighton Beach will be a predominantly Arab area. There are more and more of these guys here -
It would be better if the Russian grandmothers were replaced at least by the Chinese, harmless and hard-working people...
Good night, Brighton Beach, peace be with you!
The doors of the subway closed and this strange area with an unusual fate remained somewhere far away. It won't take long for this symbol of "Russian America" to disappear forever along with these grandmothers. Their children and grandchildren no longer stay where their parents came. They turn into Americans and disperse throughout the vast country.
Ask any American where Russians live in New York, and without a shadow of a doubt he will point you in the direction of Long Island, where Brooklyn and its separate administrative districts are located. It is here that the area, popularly referred to as "Little Odessa", is located, in which mainly immigrants from the former USSR live. It is called Brighton Beach, and most of the restaurants, shops and even newspapers have Russian-language names.
District history
The area of Brooklyn received its current name in honor of the resort of the same name, located in the UK. Soon a railroad was laid here, which later became a branch of the New York subway. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the area attracted tourists, and later Brighton Beach became a fashionable resort where rich Europeans came to relax.
Everything changed dramatically during the Second World War. The area went from popular to poor and for some time was considered depressing. Over time, the birth rate in Brooklyn rose and the area gradually began to develop again. To a greater extent, this was facilitated by the influx of immigrants from the Soviet Union. Soon a kind of Russian district in New York was formed here. Brooklyn attracted immigrants from Eastern Europe with its low cost, as well as good infrastructure, good transport interchange and location near the coast.
Brighton remained unprestigious until the end of the last century, when the collapse of the USSR and further restructuring followed. It’s a paradox, but it was these events that gave a powerful impetus to the development of Little Odessa, because along with poor Soviet citizens, a stream of former Russian businessmen also poured into the States.
Infrastructure
The first generations who moved to Brighton did everything so that their children not only knew English, but also did not forget Russian. Already at the beginning of the new century, the Russian district in New York was very often filled with shops and restaurants, where Russian-speaking staff worked and Russian products could be purchased. The magnificent Millennium Theater was built near the coast, and the entire post-Soviet beau monde lived in the luxurious Oceana residential complex. Brooklyn's transport interchange remains one of the best in New York to this day.
"Little Odessa"
In most local banks, offices, entertainment and shopping centers, Russian is the norm rather than the exception, and you can hear it here more often than English. Every week, performances by Russian pop stars take place in Little Odessa, so there is practically no need to talk about nostalgia for the locals.
100 meters of white sand separate Brighton from the coast, is it necessary to say that in the summer it is just a paradise for tourists? All beaches are equipped with free toilets and soda machines. Lifeguards are on duty around the clock on the sea, and along the coastline there are specially designated places for fishing enthusiasts.
Development prospects
Today, the Russian district in New York, along with neighboring Coney Island, is considered one of the rapidly developing areas. According to experts, these two administrative centers are the most promising in terms of investment for the next decade.
Population
According to the last census data, a little over 23,000 people live in Little Odessa. It should be noted right away that this figure is nothing more than a formality, because far from all residents enter into lease agreements and, accordingly, are not included in the statistics. In addition, in the summer season, the population of the district increases by 2-3 times due to visiting tourists. With regard to gender, in Brighton, men and women are in approximate equality.
The Russian district in New York fully justifies its name: 36% of the residents of the administrative center do not speak or speak English poorly, while this figure does not exceed 7% for the agglomeration as a whole. About 73% of the inhabitants of "Little Odessa" are emigrants, and in New York this figure is within 22%.
Despite the fact that Brooklyn as a whole has a very high population of people with an upper-middle income, the Russian district in New York generally shows a low standard of living. So, for example, about 30% of the population here lives in poverty, and the number of cars per capita is almost two times less than directly in New York.
This is not surprising. A similar spread is characteristic of today's Russia and most countries of the post-Soviet space. While some bathe in luxury, the latter are forced to look for means of subsistence.
Along with this, it is the width of the stratum of the population with an average income that determines the quality of life in the country as a whole.
Well, so far, Brighton Beach is really "Little Odessa" or "Moscow", rather than the largest agglomeration of the United States on the Mediterranean coast.
