I don't believe these are the Russians who Donald Trump knows.
10
Nice!
2
I love the author's writing style, and found the photos engrossing. That said, I think this is a very misleading portrait of Brighton Beach. It's cartoonish and inaccurate.
Those not familiar with the area would assume it's an aging enclave full of pensioners. In reality, that describes the Brighton Beach of the 1970's. Over the last 40 years the neighborhood has gotten much younger, more affluent and vibrant. 2 bedroom condos cost twice that of single family homes in NJ. The families that left Brighton Beach generally couldn't afford it, or just wanted a quieter suburban life. There's intense demand for housing.
There has been demographic change within the former Soviet community, with Central Asians generally becoming more prominent (because they're the latest wave) but otherwise the general narrative has been upward in-place mobility. There are $2-$3 million condos these days, where 30 years ago coops were worth almost nothing. The former Soviets are staying, expanding, and many are getting rich.
13
God works in mysterious ways! Russian Jews had to move to Brighton Beach to become Russians, Uzbeks and Georgians - to become Soviets, and the brutal dog-eats-dog capitalism (the image used by Soviet propaganda as a bugaboo), where common people starve, and rich thieves enjoy decadent life in their fenced and guarded enclaves - is built in the former USSR...
6
You have the soul (and wit) of all Russian writers - so much fun to read. Thank you.
12
I grew up in Brighton Beach in the forties and fifties, long before the Russian invasion. After WW2 the German refugees arrived but no Russians. BB was the middle between Manhattan Beach and Coney Island. We belonged to Brighton Beac Baths, picked up boys on bay 7, ate Mrs. Stahls knishes and saw double features at the Tuxedo and Oceana movie houses. I graduated from Abe Lincoln High School and went to Columbia University, which meant three hours a day on the subway. Brighton was a vibrant community then as it is now though not as colorful.
59
@melamin
I still miss Mrs. Stahls knishes. My father had the pharmacy on Brighton 13th.
18
I so enjoyed reading this! I was born & raised in Brighton Beach from the 1950's to the 1970's. Such happy, fond memories! By the time I left, the neighborhood was getting very dangerous and I was worried about my elderly parents who still lived there, but then came the Russian Jews, very family oriented, and my parents felt safe again. My family's background is Russian/Polish Jewish & my mother looked just like the Russian ladies, except she couldn't speak Russian and only a smattering of Yiddish.
53
Actually, I think the photos do a disservice to Brighton Beach. I moved there two years ago because it was affordable as compared to Manhattan. To my surprise, I have grown very fond of the place. It’s safe, it’s quiet and feels like a special village of its own. As an American (with Russian ancestry) I felt like a fish out of water but I’ve seen how the Russians warm up to a stranger after a while. I have a pharmacist and a manicurist, and various neighbors who keep an eye on me and my dogs.
The photos that I have taken show a really beautiful beach, colors, sunsets, produce markets, the glitzy Gourmanoff supermarket, funny characters, a white Great Dane who’s toenails are painted red and women of a certain age who dye their hair red and wear leopard print newsboy caps. Everything is cheaper than Manhattan.
Please don’t tell the hipsters though. We’ll keep it to ourselves.
84
At least once or twice a summer, we head over to the Brighton Beach boardwalk for a meal at one of the Tatiana's. We sit right on the boardwalk under umbrellas drinking beer and eating wonderful food as we watch the view of people and ocean and listen to the multiple dialects of the other diners. The sense of being in another country is very strong but stronger even is the recognition that THIS, too, is New York.
90
I grew up in another Brighton Beach. My father came there from Russia in the 1920s; his family survived the revolution and pogroms. The neighborhood was 99.9% Jewish, and the language spoken on the street was Yiddish, not Russian. As my father would say, "Russian was the Czar's language." When the "new" Russians came in the 70s, my father was already retired and was volunteering to help the recent immigrants who spoke no English. Amazingly, his seldom-used Russian was still perfect after 50 years.
On the High Holidays the only open stores were Chinese restaurants. The Brighton of today hardly resembles the Brighton where I grew up. I consider myself very lucky to have had the beach, the boardwalk, and the friends I still have from the old neighborhood.
78
I’ve lived in Brooklyn my entire life, which means I know the history of The Boardwalk. I love the “Russian end,” where you’ll eat the best traditional foods and watch couples, old and very young, dance together gracefully to music rarely heard outside of Russia. And then, with each 100 yards walked off, you move though different cultures...urban rap/reggae, then Latino salsa,...
Each filled with real dancers. Natural born. As everyone on the Boardwalk seems to be.
It makes for the most unique, diverse experience on a summer night, similar to, only with much fresher, sea air, a ride on the subway. Another reason why I’ll never move
13
I ADORE Brighton Beach. It’s really a journey to another world, 50 minutes on the Q train from Manhattan. I always come home with a few large containers of pelmeni. The pelmeni! I think I’ll go tomorrow...
10
Please make this Part 1 of a future novel. Superb writing that should be rewarded in royalties of future books sold.
15
When I lived near Coney Island, everyone there knew William Latham's "Brighton Beach." But "no one" outside Brooklyn seemed to have heard of it back then, unless they were from Brooklyn.
It's been fun since YouTube started seeing the piece played by school orchestras in Ohio State or this one in Arizona State.
William Latham's "Brighton Beach"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-WpSOBNObo
The music seems to work no matter how Brighton Beach changes. (I keep wanting to imagine lyrics to it, sometimes warm, sometimes funny - but probably better not to set it in any time, even in my mind.)
2
Thanks to the author and photographer for this vignette of Brighton Beach sunshine on a winter's day. Raised in Midwood, Brooklyn, we enjoyed summer days at the beach club Brighton Beach Baths, and shopping for knishes at Mrs Stahl's and various vegetable stands and other treats. I returned to BB in the 1970s as the fresh air and ocean swimming was a treat; but I also recall the 1970s beach crowd that was newly arrived had a habit of burying or throwing the peach pits anywhere and everywhere. Eventually, it was less inviting. Thanks to this article, it seems things may be changed, again.
4
The prose in this article sings! The pictures remind me
how brilliant photography can be.
12
I grew up in Brooklyn and went to Brighton Beach in the fifties and sixties. Brighton Beach Baths was the beach club one joined for the pools and dressing rooms and the boardwalk was less honky tonk than Coney Island.
I moved away and went back years later when visiting my mother. She loved the Brighton Beach boardwalk. I think it reminded her of Europe. I have traveled extensively, including communist Russia in the seventies. I felt like I was in a picturesque foreign country without leaving my own. I loved it.
I and went back for a visit a few years ago. The old Art Deco and elaborate brick buildings are so beautiful. I'm glad they didn't tear them all down.
Thank you for the wonderful photos and words. They've enticed me to stop by on my next visit to NY in the spring or fall seasons when it is not soo crowded.
12
This is beautiful. Thank you!
10
Thank you for a lovely article and great pics! My sister lived in that neighborhood for about 10 years and my (West-Indian Hindu) nephews went to Jewish Pre-Schools and would sing "I have a Little Dreidel" at Xmas.
11
Great article and photos. When Anthony Bourdain visited Brighton Beach, he proclaimed the nightclub show at one "restaurant" as the most spectacular show he had ever seen. Wish I remembered the name of that restaurant.
11
@Lola.... A quick search online for "Anthony Bourdain Brighton Beach" produced this restaurant PIMORSKI. Is this it? http://www.grubstreet.com/2014/03/primorski-brighton-beach.html If not, try another search.
6
Thank you for this great article and wonderful photos!
8
What an absolute delight it was to read this article. I loved learning about the behavioral peculiarities of this population as they created a new homeland. The author's honesty made me laugh out loud. I trust Ms. Akhtiorskaya will keep writing about her world.
12
@June, yes!!! What an enjoyable article! So true, visceral and relatable from my point of view. And the photographs are amazing!!!Thank you!
3
I grew up in Brighton. In fact, I lived in the Joseph P Day house depicted, 1120-1130 Br Bch Ave--(Apt 2CC). Then we moved to the twin house, 1150-1170 (Apt 2B)- 2 bedrooms.
What was the Odessa nightclub was a pool hall (we called it poolroom), right under it was a bakery my friend from school, Bernie Mittleman later owned. On the corner of Coney Island Ave you show was a newsstand and across the street was Mama Stahls knishes. She originally was a peddler on the beach. A bunch of people, Dad included chipped in $25 each to lend her the money to open the store. Dad lived there until his death in 1987. I still remember when the Russians started moving in as the Jewish emigres from the 1920's were passing away. Then came the Russian mob which hung out in the Odessa. I'm 86 and I remember when we married we all wanted to move out. Out for a "better " life. Now all my grandkids are moving back to the city.
Who can take the horrible traffic all over NJ , CT., Long Island, etc. But, when I look back and see what became of my generation from Lincoln High School----amazing.
My 3 children & 2 nieces & nephew plan an axcussion to Brighton this spring. I guess I'll be the elder statesman.
30
What a wonderful article and great photos. I particularly liked the one of Vera Hatsernova and Anna Malkina. I love the delicious food, great shopping and Russian flavor of Brighton Beach.
11
Please, let's settle down. The writing. The gorgeous writing.
32
Someone here mentioned the racism of the older first and second generation Russians. Many Russians, if not most, are Republicans who feel indebted to Ronald Reagan for their freedom.
Few Russians understand that they owed their freedom to Martin Luther King, without whom Ronald Reagan could not have demanded that Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev "tear down this wall": the USA had its own "wall", the southern "Mason-Dixon" line.
That US "wall" symbolically came down with passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Prior to MLK's demands for human and civil rights for all peoples the world spoke little - if at all - about human, religious or civil rights.
40
Vladimir Putin was speaking to a large group of about 2,500 people in St Petersburg, Russia three night ago where something incredible happened. Two minutes into his speech, someone from the crowd shouted "Coney Island". Unfazed, Putin continued only to be repeatedly interrupted by the same person yelling "Coney Island". Despite seeming visually bothered, Putin powered through his speech. In an effort to outsmart the heckler, Putin stopped talking midway through his thought exclaiming! "When I catch the person who keeps interrupting me I'm going to kick them so hard from behind, the person is going to land in "Coney Island". To Putin's surprise, everyone in attendance shouted "Coney Island".
57
Great article on many levels.
BUT--What's with the photo of the Orthodox Priest?
Just asking.
5
@Charles in Vemont
There is a tiny Russian Orthodox church in the area. Also, locally one of the Russian priests - Father Vadim (a Jew by origin and a programmer by occupation) runs a voluntary rehabilitation center for alcoholics and junkies
6
@Charles in Vemont, because there are Orthodox Russians living there, too, and some Ukrainians.
5
This is a wonderful article on the Soviet Jewish subculture in America, its history, and its echoing both Russia and the US.
However, there are some Ethnic Russian (I am one) remarks to be made about other, unattractive, aspects of Brighton Beach, for which, elsewhere, my ethnicity is blamed unjustly.
One of the virtues of this article is that it makes it unusually clear that Brighton Beach is primarily a Jewish venture, even given a more recent substantial Central Asian influx.
Uniquely useful is that the piece does not suggest that there is a major Ethnic Russian component to the enclave. To be sure, there are many of us in Brighton Beach, but a rather small minority.
Unfortunately, in English, the word "Russian" is used both for Russian-speakers in general, e.g. Soviet Jews, and for Ethnic Russians, as in the true statement "the Russians were unspeakably oppressive to the Jews."
The problem for us, and the reason for my complaint, is that there is, as is well known, an extremely vicious mob based in Brighton Beach. Logically enough, given the demographics of the area, the mob is overwhelmingly Jewish, at least at the top.
However, it is universally known as The Russian Mob. Since for Americans, "Russian" means us in loathsome situations, the understanding is "Ethnic Russian Mob". Thus, falsely, we have been saddled, victimized, with responsibility for these thugs.
Eg, New Republic, September 2017
Perhaps in a less-engaging piece this might be explored.
13
@alyosha, great point!! Agree!
2
@alyosha
Well, Алексей, the statement "the Russians were unspeakably oppressive to the Jews...” is debatable, and though true for some, perhaps many Jewish experiences - but hardly, hardly for all. This is particularly untrue during Russia’ Soviet history chronologically (and geographically) separating generations of Jewish Power, Contribution, Participation and finally - the generation of Presence and Exodus.
And an American acceptable persuasive differentiation between “русский, еврей и иудей” - Russian, Jewish and Jew (as in “Judaism”), still awaits the brave and powerful.
Especially when factoring the historical and geographical context.
In America we all, Russophones, are “Russians”. Except for the Ukrainians... presently.
2
The writing in this article is just superb. I would greatly enjoy reading more from this author in the Times.
"... the entire kompaniya of friends and their feral children would convene for endless nights of drunken reverie."
Sublime.
32
I witnessed the arrival of the Russians during the 1980s and 1990s as my parents lived in the Mitchell-Lama, state subsidized Trump village. I was amazed at how in spite of the year's long waiting lists for these valued apartments, as well as for rent stabilized and controlled apartments, the apartments and entire buildings were suddenly all populated by Russian immigrants It was obvious that the "fix was in" and the waiting lists were a fiction. Who pulled the strings? I do not know.
26
@David Oh please, some people find conspiracies everywhere. My parents were "people of color" from a non-European country and were able to get an apartment in Trump Village simply by walking into the management office and asking for an application. That apartment was my parents leg-up in this country and have fond memories of Brighton Beach. Anyone watch the movie "Requiem for a Dream" ? That was my life, minus the drugs.
12
@David
Same was true in San Francisco to be fair. My thought exactly -“the fix was in”, but not who - rather what pulled the strings.
Corruption and power, as usual.
5
Great observation, David. I know for a fact that management was accepting payments to move people up on the list. I’ll just leave it at that.
18
I'm glad the surly ladies in white paper hats made an appearance in this article. I came to a different part of the US with a much smaller ex-Soviet community from Belarus when I was three. When I first moved to New York after college, I used to go to Brighton every other week much in the way the author described - to load up on cheap produce and delicacies. But I most distinctly recall psyching myself up to spar with the white-hatted blue-eyeshadowed ladies manning the meat and cheese counters - they had no patience for my hesitation and inexperience with the dozens of types of salami on offer.
23
The part about feeling worse so you can complain more is very familiar to this 70-year-old child survivor of a Russian-Polish Jew (raised Catholic no less!) it was always a good idea to get up early and go apologize to him before anything happened: that way after he was done screaming about something, I was already off the hook!
13
The times I’ve strolled the boardwalk at Brighton Beach, surrounded completely by spoken Russian and no English, I’ve gotten the feeling that, rather than being on the Atlantic Ocean in Brooklyn, I was perhaps on the Black Sea somewhere in the Crimea. Once back on the subway, it was almost surprising, and a form of culture shock, to immerse oneself again in American culture.
Customs are different, also. Eating at Russian restaurant there, the bill came with a line item, which I didn’t understand. When I asked about it, I was told in very broken, limited English that it was for “napkins”. Since discussion about “napkins” was going to be limited, me speaking no Russian, I just paid the amount. Then I wasn’t sure if American tipping was going to be appropriate, or if I already had done that with the “napkins”.
With the “Potatoes, Caucasian Style” on the menu, I really wanted to ask if they came with white bread and mayonnaise. But I didn’t.
19
@DaveG - You saved a bundle in airfare.
10
Great article.
Saddest part about Brighton Beach, is that most of it's population ( supposedly "refugees") is one of the most racist bunch in NYC and US in general. Of course they will not express their opinions to "regular" american, but if you speak fluent Russian , and they think that you are one one of their own , they will tell a lot of things that have been unacceptable in american society since the 70s. And I am trying to put it nicely. That's really disgusting . Luckily, new generation (born in US) is way more tolerant.
38
This is a very misleading article. Author must be bitter on growing up in the area. This is not home to people without soul, but people who endured prosecution and hardship and came to the States for better life. Guess what, they accomplished it, they transformed the neighborhood that was a slum and dangerous place to a flourishing part of the city. They raised their kids who moved on and left to suburbs, most are professionals. Some, like me, stayed in the area. The area is actually fares better than some parts of the city which can be swing in many condos that are build and daycare centers that of great quality. The mere size of these daycares shows the substantial presence of young families, like mine, who can afford paying $1500 a month per child. The restaurants, supermarkets, even a concert hall is in the area.
This article just angers me. Why would one express so much safe hatred for your own people? Just for fame?
8
@Yevgeniy, I did not feel any hatred at all.. only awe and admiration.
11
The banners hanging from the elevated train stanchions along Brighton Beach Avenue used to read, "Welcome to Little Odessa." Right after Russia took Crimea in 2014, they were replaced with ones that read, "Welcome to Little Moscow." A Russian official said Ukraine is not even really a country; it's a virtual country. Today, Brighton Beach, tomorrow Ukraine, the next day ... the world?
7
I have lived in Brighton Beach for 8 years and it is every bit as interesting as this article highlights. As non-Russian there are still many things I have yet to do like go to a show. I look forward to it. And it’s true the produce is the best and cheapest I have encountered. And do go to Tashkent! It is a great grocery store with lots of delicacies.
18
In the very first picture, under the El, on the left hand side, you will see the Tashkent Supermarket. Just a great place to go shopping for all sorts of foods that you don't know what they are, but they look so good. It's an experience. BUY ! Any shopper there will help if you are in doubt. And the Brighton Beach station is just overhead.
15
Thank you. What a wonderful, enriching, heart filling story and, of course, photos. I may never make it to Brighton Beach in person, but will always feel as though I have actually been there. Thank you for your hard work! Jinny
15
This is the beauty of America. I can taste life elsewhere right here on our soil, and do so with a sense of appreciation and gratitude for my experience. It's one of the prominent reasons that I love New York.
21
Great article.
Brighton Beach was a real trip in the 1990’s. I was all amazed how the Russian women would study each piece of fruit they put in their basket.
I remember an Estonia female friend explaining to me that I had to call to make reservations on Saturday night to go to the Club Odessa because it was easier for an American voice to get a reservation.
I had some wild times there.
Super photography and a fun read
18
Interesting the author, a little tongue-in-cheek, downplays the anti-Semitic environment Russian Jews were purportedly escaping.
I remember the period, and remember wondering and anguishing over why Russia's Jews were selected for favored access to America when tens of millions across the world, struggled in much much more horrendous environments.
I don't wonder anymore. I just despair. Not really. But there's a lot to despair about.
18
@AJ Good question. Russian Jews were simply the ammunition of the Cold War. America was making political headway using it's immigration policy. USA was proving that, given half a chance, happy denizens of a socialist wonderland will sprint to the other side posthaste. And we did. The Cold War was won. Immigration from the post-soviet territories was throttled - it had fulfilled it's function and was no longer in the interest of the United States. You see, a state does not have to act in anyone's interest, but it's own.
14
@AJ Jackson-Vanik amendment!
4
beautiful piece!
16
Incredible documentary photography. I hope there is a book coming out by Mr. Yurenev.
21
@Francisco I hope Mr. Yurenev will stop distorting reality, and will be more responsible photographer in the future. Converting neighborhood to a freak show and depict it like a scene from horror movie is dusgusting.
3
What?!? No byline? This charming piece has the feel of something by Yelena Akhtiorskaya (Panic in a Suitcase), but there's no way to confirm that.
7
Yes, there is a by-line and it is indeed Yelena Akhtiorskaya. A totally charming, funny and evocative piece!
20
Frankly, I didn't go over the article for two reasons. 1. Too many words 2. I know the neighborhood very well and don't need to learn about author's opinion. I would like to comment a photography. To my opinion, photographer is trying to ridicule Brighton Beach by using wide angle lenses and very specific post processing. This approach bend a reality and make everything looks like a frick show. Shame.
9
@Boris: No, it's OK, because existence is a freak show.
10
@Boris, it’s pretty funny that someone posts in the NYT that an article has “too many words.” The equivalent of TLDNR. This is a newspaper, after lol. Words are the entire point.
I don’t see any intended ridicule in the photos. They are, perhaps, hyper realistic, but that is an aesthetic choice and not necessarily an editorial one. Perception exists in the mind of the viewer.
34
That should be “after all” not “after lol,” of course. Autocomplete/autocorrect be the death of me.
11
I am sure the irony of Trump mannor is not lost on the russians living in the buildings built by Fred Trump and his son Donald Trump. The Trumps excluded blacks and were sued. Woody Guthrie wrote a song about the racism of the Trumps called "Old Man Trump." Guess things have not changed.
33
@Scott S
Maybe some of us don't mind what he done. There is very sketchy past between black and Russians and other European immigrants in the area. It continues to some extent today. Also many people here support the president.
5
@Barry why?
9
@Scott S The irony is completely lost. Most FSU (former Soviet Union) immigrants are die-hard Trump supporters.
7
Glorious piece.
One of the most unforgettable meals of my life was in a Georgian restaurant in Brighton Beach, and I appreciate Akhtiorskaya's implicit assertion that only an adept and experienced food writer could hope to describe it.
Stunning photos. Such important work all around.
14
Thank you for superb writing and wonderful pictures.
11
Wonderful literary and photographic piece. Bravo! This is why we love the New York Times.
19
We have contributed inordinate amounts of money in the nineties at the request of CJA ,to fund the resettlement in Israel of Russian Jews authorized to leave the exhausted USSR. It became clear later on, that Israel was just a stopover for quite a number of immigrants for whom the USA was the authentic promised land.
This magnificently written and brilliantly illustrated piece,has allowed me, a long last to get a glimpse at the people who managed to reach the American shores,and a sense of the life they have led in Brighton Beach. Brine has played a crucial role in preserving their original identity while leading the double life of Americans and Odessa fugitives. May they enjoy their hard earnt peace and know that they were in the thoughts of many Jews throughout the Diaspora ,wanting them to be able to start a new ,free and dignified life among us.
16
@Marcelo Brito
Marcelo- one correction, Most of the people there did not come via Israel. They immigrated directly to the US as refugees. Those who went to Israel, mostly never made it here. So, don't conflate the experiences.
8
@Marcelo Brito
Thank you!
But you have been used by geopolitical forces bent on the destruction of Russia (known at the time as USSR). BTW, in 1991 when it became clear that the USSR was imploding, Soviet Jews were not welcommed in the US - hence the “sausage” (колбасная) emigration, and to Israel.
6
I feel what is glossed over is the generational paranoia of the typical Soviet émigré. As the writer mentions, these were the individuals who lived through the absurdist Stalinist times, ones in which doublespeak became an accepted dialect of its own. It was all for the sake of survival. The paranoia of the old world seeped into the new, carrying with it an intense distrust of anyone and everyone. "Don't talk too loud, they might be listening." "Let's talk in person, this isn't a conversation to be had over the phone."
That paranoia inevitably seeped into the children who grew up entrenched in it. As some believe that trauma can be passed on, I too believe the very same can happen with inherent paranoia. There's nothing to fear and yet running away from that perennial feeling is difficult, even impossible. It has become a state of being that is as natural to the former Soviet diaspora as breathing. And that is as Soviet as a love for vodka, pierogis, and the latest issue of Pravda.
21
You know, Brooklyn has got to be the coolest place on earth
(it being my hometown notwithstanding).
Everybody and everything's there: people, cultures, products, religions, foods, you name it.
You want to see the world, you go to Brooklyn.
I did go to see the world when I was young (a lot of it, anyway).
I could have saved myself the trouble.
Piroshki, anyone?
33
@Bert Floryanzia-If you're a native Brooklynite, you'd know that the Brooklyn of 2018 has been turned into a Disney-fied, Mid-Westernized version of the authentic Brooklyn. It's got nothing to do what Bklyn actually is (my mother is from E. Flatbush). Just a bunch of scenesters from the Heartland colonizing the Borough until they tired of it and move back to Wisconsin. Since you're clearly enamored of Bklyn, why are you in North Carolina?
7
I beg to differ. Sure, the borough is changing, but it always has, and will continue to do so. Bay Ridge (a.k.a. Flushing II) and Sheepshead Bay (Little Uzbekistan) are just two neighborhoods where the demographic has changed immensely in the last decade , with some new construction thrown in on previously empty lots. But I would not call them Disney-fied. Industry City has become an upscale food court mall, but once again throws NYC cynics a curveball—the new Japan Village, for example, attracts throngs, but the majority are Chinese from Sunset Park, not the hipsters who are the intended market.
13
@Patou
Didn't you know , "You Can't Go Home Again."
Ask the Russians.
10
I went to Brighton Beach some years ago on a summer day with my two daughters. We got off the train and felt in a different country - the signs in Russian, we asked? (We’re Wisconsinites)
Several really good memories. One, I tried on a shirred navy blue fur coat. I always wish I had gotten it. Two, the bakery was out of this world. Three, I’m short and on the heavier side and my daughters said I looked authentic and very much in place in Brighton Beach. Ah, belonging!
My daughters were not married then. It was a by chance lovely summer day, just us “girls” walking to Coney Island then, afterward, and later returned to Manhattan. We had truly spent the day together, just us and Brighton Beach. We enjoyed the people, the food, the ocean, the day.
Some memories just never let you down. Here now in a Wisconsin winter, they’re married with their busy families, I’m years older, but I can actually feel that emotional and physical warmth of the day long ago of Brighton Beach. Lovely.
309
Wonderful article and pictures. But not a single samovar! Is this possible?
33
@Pierre D. Robinson, B.F., W.S. as I wrote in my comments, these pictures are misleading and bend a reality. Brighton doesn't look like photographer wanted to depicture it. Like anywhere in NY you can find freaks, but no more then in Manhatten or Qeens, the Bronx and wherever. Brighton Beach is just another ethnically community in NY, like China Town for example.
7
I loved the photos and descriptions. They remind me of when I was in college and working as a (volunteer) interpreter for HIAS/NYANA. I spent a lot of time in BB with immigrants. It was a labor of love for me, as my great-grandparents left Odessa for Brooklyn at the end of the 19th century.
One minor quibble. The authors wrote:
"All of this glamour eventually faded, and the current state of Brighton Beach can be traced directly to the year 1979, when the first spate of Russian Jews came sputtering out of a hole in the Iron Curtain."
Actually it began a little earlier. The Jackson-Vanik Amendment, which was the USA's lever to help these folks emigrate, was passed in 1974. I remember being quite busy 1977/78 and 79 as well!
Всего Хорошего!
54
@Andrew S.
Andrew is correct. Brighton Beach was occupied by Russian immigrants long before 1979, when the writer came. It was well established when we visited my grandfather there once a month when I was a child in the early 50’s. My grandfather had served in the Czar’s army, teaching mathematics in St. Petersburg to the children of senior army officials. He introduced us to all things Russian when we visited him in Brighton Beach—the food, the culture, the people.
30
@B. P. B
The author came in the 90's. The year of 1979 was the crest of the 3rd wave. It was also the last, thus the most memorable.
14
Спасибо. Masterfully written. Wow.
12
The photo essay is beautiful. Though albeit too romanticized and not an accurate representation of the whole of Brighton Beach. Trying to make it look like Russia/Ukraine, like Brighton in the 80/90s? It's changed a lot. Yeah there's some Cyrillic here and there but it's no Chinatown. The photos say one thing and the text another. A fun read but it's missing a few key pieces. Also, the first wave was early 70s, not 1979.
5
Ms. Akhtiorskaya, "Brighton Beach is a universe onto itself"; as in 'The cops are onto him.' Possibly you meant 'unto itself' as in quite unlike its surroundings.
9
One of my pal's Bubbe and Zayde lived in "Trump." I loved going with her for a "Brighton Beach day." It felt like we were getting a glimpse of European Jewish life that was long gone. Thanks for the reminder of those magical days.
47
The "Trump Cinema" was our closest movie theater, and was blah outside but very nice inside, but a small screen. I lived in Luna Park from 1970 to 1986 (age 10 to 26, except for three years in law school). My folks left there in 2011. Like Woody Allen's character lived under the Cyclone in the movie, we lived a block from the Cyclone in Luna Park, which was neither Brighton nor Coney Island, so we adopted both.
And sure enough, when a boyfriend visited in 1985 or so, though I'd thought the great Jade Pagoda next to Trump Cinema, he wanted to have dinner in a Russian restaurant, any Russian restaurant, because that was Brighton Beach to him, a tourist from Manhattan. (My parents went all the time, but I'd never been, so they suggested one.)
7
We enjoyed, a lot, this article.
"Ex-Soviets do not trust information or strangers; they trust cucumbers." This comment deserves a statue.
Long live immigrants.
61
Completely fantastic writing! Bravo!
Intelligent, sensitive, skillful & hilarious. More, please!
27
The photos are.. wonderful.
15
I love this writer’s voice. My favorite line, for some reason, is this: “Now that everyone's been long reunited, they've had the chance to become annoying again.”
Back in the 1980s San Francisco had a (relatively, given the population of the city at that time) large and tight community of Soviet Jews who came to the US on asylum claims. In the city’s Outer Richmond District you could find Russian restaurants, delis, bakeries and peroshki vendors. I don’t know whether that community has dispersed as a result of the soaring property values and rising rents in the city, and the general change in demographics. I have a strong memory of seeing Russians (more precisely Soviets) taking photos of the produce displays and the abundance of products on the shelves of rather average grocery stores in the Avenues.
15
I very much connect to this piece, not the least because I grew up in Brighton Beach in the 90's and because my parents still live in the two bedroom apartment that we had initially shared with my grandparents. It's really a time capsule of Soviet life.
But one thing in particular strikes me. Recently, I was speaking with my mother about the current refugee crisis, trying to suggest that we, who came here as Jewish refugees should not be so quick to slam the door behind us. To which she predictably rolled her eyes and said "yes, but we weren't REALLY refugees." Somehow, despite not being allowed to attend medical school because they "had enough Jews," despite my dad being told in the army that he's a nice guy "for a Jew," despite the bomb threats that our Jewish children's choir, which I was a part of, received prior to our first Hanukkah performance, she'd still like to think that everything was fine and we only came here because of the gullibility of the American government.
There's a certain grit to Soviet era Jews that I in some way envy. The more I think about what it took for my parents to bring us here, to leave everything behind, I come to think of them as heroes. I'm glad Brighton Beach is still there to offer them some comfort.
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@Yelena B. What we (old people) mean by that "not really refugees" bit, is that we were invited. A look at the map will show you that a russian cannot rush a border or scale a fence to wind up in the US. Nor were we allowed to take anything of value with us to make the journey on our own. We were brought here - in large enough numbers - for a reason. Think "Cold War".
15
@Yelena B.
Your parents were right.
Freedom was an abstract and foreign concept to amost all, though we used this word as a catch-all word.
The Soviet Jewish reality was very complex, with the vast majority living a good life in our small worlds, separate from the despair painted and wished for by the enemies of the USSR. You lived here long enough to believe the falshood of absolute values and the innate right of Anericans judging and teaching the world.
We left Russia, for a Columbus-like adventure, and a better life for our children, regardless of the comforts we had, once we fell for the irresistable appeal of America and the West in general.
11
@Yelena B. What Nkornnj says is in part true. A larger truth is that immigrant groups in the US historically have been the most racist, the most willing to roll up the ladder so the next group in has no access. Its partly an imposition from the capitalists - as soon as the first group starts earning decent wages they need to import some new blood to work for cheap - who do you think encouraged illegals all these years. And I have seen in my own Ucranian family displays of just plain tribal ignorance.
15
Extremely well-written piece. Style evokes Neil Simon's "Brighton Beach Memoirs." The photographs are spectacular!
12
Worth reiterating: Photographs by Alexey Yurenev written by Yelena Akhtiorskaya.
That was a great read, thanks to both of you.
23
Beautifully written and insightfully photographed! Of course, it's not "news," but this profile of the place captures all the texture of ethnicity and cultural diversity in the United States. Well done! Thank you!
13
What a wonderful piece of journalism! Reminiscent for the classic "Family of Man" era. Go, enjoy the sights, the sounds, the culture, and if for no other reason, go for the food!
12
A major Brighton Beach landlord told me that he got complaints from his Russian tenants when he rented an apt to a black person. Helps explain the hegemoneous nature of the neighborhood.
30
You had me at "..stroll down the shore, until the sea turns to vodka..."
30
Sheesh - this is such old news. The National and the Odessa and the Primorski and all those Russian delis and virtually everything described in the article was new and different for us in the 1980s. All these photos could have been taken during the Yeltsin Era.
It can't be that the NYT is just discovering Brighton Beach. Special note to the writer - New Yorkers don't discover Brighton Beach by mistake. We've been going there on purpose for over 30 years.
13
And dangerously homophobic, according to a New York Times report in May 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/21/nyregion/bias-gay-russians-brooklyn.html
21
No one heard of Trump when I lived in Brooklyn, in Manhattan Beach, just north of Brighton Beach. That's because I was in grammar school and so was he. Then BB was Jewish; grocers produce from a wall of cartons built outside their tiny stores; you went from one business to another to get your shopping, like in Europe of old. Here for oranges, there for Knishes, next door to the bagel bakers, and then to the aromatic deli where the men sliced thin slices of Nova right off the belly of the smoked salmon, in front of you and everyone else. I got sent out for bagels, bialys, and the New York Times on Sundays. I went to PS 225, where you could get penny candy in a corner store catering to kids' sweet yens, and also our straightened finances. You got Chinese food for special occasions like someone's birthday, when your mom would insist you bring a box of handkerchiefs. Very embarrassing. Russia was somewhere your grandparents happily escaped from!
34
Wonderful photos. But I must add that Brighton Beach as a destination in its own right preceded the Russians. Thousands got off the subway intentionally in Brighton to go directly to the beach. Also the produce preceded the Russians. By decades. That said I love the NY melting pot that is Brighton. There are also Turkish people, Pakistanis, Mexicans. I love going to my home neighborhood and the food is incredible.
23
Mesmerizing. How beautifully and sensitively written with a forgiving and appreciative eye at the culturally idiosyncratic behavior of the denizens of Brighton Beach.
So engrossed with the characters that inhabit the area, I for a moment missed the Trump-Russian connection. A well honed, long term relationship it appears that may have catapulted Herr T into the White House. Such an occurrence would be met with a knowing nod and not a raised eyebrow by the exiles.
These ex-pats have seen it all before.
16
Not to be a killjoy about the charming article but we have a Russian neiborhood in the city where I live. The only illegals i know about live there. They have been there for years, going on 20 years in one case, and nobody seems to be looking to deport them. Wonder what it is that is different there.
I am not looking to deport anybody from the Russian community either. But some equal treatment when it comes to immigration policy would be refreshing. Especially since people in our Mexican neighborhood are just as colorful and equally, if not more, hardworking.
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@Bashh equal treatment should indeed be one of the key principles of the immigration policy and its enforcement. But it is hard to achieve, when even the top officials announce their national/ethnic preferences (more Norwegians, fewer Mexicans). Then, obviously, for people given to xenophobia, Mexicans present a bigger "problem" than Russians - simply because there are many more Mexicans among "unauthorized" (to use the less inflammatory term) immigrants. Pew Research estimates that Mexicans comprise about a half of this total, whereas all immigrants from Europe and Canada lumped together - fewer than 5%. The fraction of Russians among these 5% is even more difficult to estimate, because of the complex interplay between ethnicity, nationality, and dual+ citizenships. But it is quite insignificant. Most Russians staying in US "illegally" didn't cross the Bering Strait, but rather overstayed their visas - not a very good material for the TV-fueled xenophobic hysteria. Compare that to the forging of the Rio Grande, "caravans", etc. Better TV=stronger hysteria. So when you look at who is being deported and who's deportation is being made a public spectacle of, please ask yourself a question: who is in the position to affect these events. Definitely not the Russians or Mexicans immigrants, who get along quite well in and around Brighton Beach.
7
@Bashh, how do you know they are “illegal” (more correctly undocumented)? I’d like to know how these supposed criminals came in to the country, twenty years ago or more. Overstaying their visas? Sneaking across the border? Maybe they came in as spies?
I guess should seek out and deport the hoards of pernicious Canadians infesting our land. You never know what those Canucks get up to.
5
Oh, the photos! Alexy - they are a real treat. Can you and Lena please do a book? I'm so curious about the centenarian, Kot, the mobster, the nighttime revelers.... We will keep our eyes out for your work.
18
The Yurenev guy has a lucky camera. So many great photos.
If we are talking wine, I'd say the photos pair well with the comedienne Akhtiorskaya's insightful, agonizingly jaundiced Russian take on life (Soviet joke: "They pretend to pay us; we pretend to work.").
Alas, no wine. Wodka. Diminutive of voda. Water. Life.
Terrific. Compliments to both.
18
Wonderful, transporting article. This is why I read the NYT and this is why immigrants make New York City great (and our country too).
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My personal discovery of Brighton Beach has been a joy and pleasure. This neighborhood says much about immigrant journeys to America and how unusual and wonderful we are as a nation.
12
The photography for this story is a feast. Bravo work. Good story, too.
26
I am quite surprised at the comments. The photos are nice but ordinary, much better BB compilations are available online, and the text is horrendous, full of platitudes and purple patches and annoying curlicues of a non-native speaker.
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@Ellie Blumenthal
I'm a native New Yorker and a native speaker of American English and I beg to differ with your casual dismissal of this beautifully and entertainingly written article and its wonderful photographs. This writing is positively captivating and very authentically "native" sounding, and the photos transported me to an unusually specific and unique place.
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@Ellie Blumenthal from Toronto
She writes like a native — of Brooklyn. Immigrants who arrive before puberty (approzimately) will learn to speak English with better grammar than a native, and with the phrasing and cadence of the city they live in. Do not expect her to write like a native of Toronto!
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@Ellie Blumenthal
I think perhaps that you have fallen victim to your own concerns - purple patches? That definitely would earn a demerit in Rhetoric 101. As for "annoying curlicues" well that speaks for itself. You may be from Toronto but you are no Margaret Atwood - she knows irony & humor.
5
A heartfelt "spaseba" to both of you for this excellent piece.
19
Wonderful - slice of life - pics!
8
The letters are as warming as the article. Thank you, USA!
9
This was a beautiful story, thank you.
14
Yelena,
You've composed a rhapsody to accompany Alexey's insightful Brighton Beach score. Having never set foot in Brighton Beach myself, you've brought both flavor and nuance to my understanding of this small Russian enclave.
In Alexey's photographs and woven in your words I feel my own family's odyssey, not identical, but similar enough. Thank you
16
Spectacular! In the 90's I spent time working for a bookie in Brighten Beach. Riding the D train from W. 4th, this almost-hip Manhattanite marveled at BB's exotic-filled streets and fur-wearing inhabitants. Dazzling pics, and the voice...Oy! Thank you.
12
Appreciate the story and perceptive photos. This is what America is all about!
17
In 1993, as an American kid who studied Russian at school (because it was cool then and better than studying German or French), I moved to the City for an internship before college. I remember fondly taking the train to Brighton Beach, mumbling in my schoolboy Russian, as I ordered some borscht with smetana. I still cherish today the memories of that hot summer, without air conditioning, listening to the bootleg cassette tapes of Viktor Tsoi and Gruppa Kino and Grebinshikov and Akvarium that I found at those vendors under the El. Thanks Brighton Beach.
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@GG smetana!! Thank you - I couldn’t get my brain to remember that word the other day!
2
This type of immigration is what saved the US from being a country of dour Protestants.
What a great pictorial and essay of the blessed diversity of our country, it was a bright spot in my day.
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@Edward Blau
Edward, America is the land of immigrants, why not the Russians. They help season the stew as it were...
6
Absolutely stunning photography!
16
in the 40's when I was growing up in Flatbush we had a locker at the Brighton Beach club and went there most days during the summer. It had a big pool and above the locker rooms was a solarium separated between men and women. It was a great place to go. Also across the street was a knish store that had the best ones I ever tasted.
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@steve Shatzkin's Knishes!
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@steve Mrs Stahl's Knishes!
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@steve Brighton Beach Baths (now a condo community) and the legendary Mrs. Stahl's Knishes, alas, long gone.
5
Wow! Thank you, Yelena and Alexey. I just Did The Time Warp Again. In the late 1970s, I was an émigré of sorts from Greenpoint, a heavily Polish Catholic blue-collar Brooklyn neighborhood since the wave that swept all my grandparents into Ellis Island as teens in 1900. I was living in boho Park Slope, so my first visit to the Odessa in 1979 was like a Slavic variation of my old neighborhood...on acid. If I'd been brave enough to bring a camera on any of my half-dozen subsequent returns over the next year or so, the pics would've been indistinguishable from these from the ones in this. Just not as well executed.
8
Beautifully written.
In this political climate what could be more important than recognizing the contribution of the immigrants of ALL nations, Russia, China, Iran, Afghanistan, Honduras, etc. to the development and sustenance of these United States.
26
Thank you for starting and ending the article with two of the most meaningful images. Forget the exotic displays of abundance. Instead look at the faces of the oldest residents. The diaspora first landed at the long-gone Brighton Beach Baths in the late 70's. As a teen working in the cafeteria there I recognized this mien from my own forebears (be they from elsewhere). Compared to the second generation raised in the US who had only heard the war stories (literally) from their parents, their eyes had quiet pride but also cautiousness toward strangers. I do get it, but NYT readers who see this article as yet another tip toward in-your-backyard gastro-tourism will likely not. Instead they'll note the current wave of luxury condos and glittering grocery stores in the new Brighton Beach with relief, a welcome clearing away of the quaint old-world-view that still respected tinkering with a discarded TV set on the sidewalk. "If you don't get it, it's your loss." Indeed.
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Thank you for this beautifully written piece. It brings back many memories, aromas, emotions.
The best start to my day this year!
23
This wonderful article took me away from the constant reality of our political turmoil... I'm hungry for the food and the change of pace. Next trip to New York will definitely include at least one visit to Brighton Beach...
And the fabulous Tenement Museum. In the late 60s I lived in what used to be called the lower East side and loved the old, tiny green-grocers, butter and egg stores, bakeries and the small markets run by people that didn't always speak English. Sounds like Brighton Beach may have some of this feeling still alive... Looking forward to it!
16
@Texas girl Actually Michael Cohen has been teamed up with Brighton Beach Russian and Ucranian mobsters for 30 years. https://www.inquisitr.com/4870018/michael-cohen-russian-donald-trump/ And the photo is of the Fred and Donald Trump development that got them sued for racist discrimination in housing. Ain´t all pretty there. https://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2017/02/trump-fbi-files-discrimination-case-235067
6
What a beautiful piece about a part of the city I have not visited for a very long time. Thank you, it really made my morning but what made it even better were the comments that accompanied it, They added an even deeper value to the story and made it a real community piece. This is the soul of the New York Times I embraced so many years ago. We need much more of this type of journalism, and the intelligent human commentary that goes with it. Bravo everyone!
29
Thank you for a beautiful story
17
The secret of BB is out. On my next visit to Gotham, I shall definitely set aside some time for a thorough visit.
Thanks.
7
Very well written. Thank you so much.
9
Yelena Akhtiorskaya has written an article worthy of Joseph Mitchell, and Alexey Yurenev has produced images worthy of Gary Winogrand. I can't express higher praise.
67
Peregrinate?!! Have you been lunching with Will Shortz?
10
Thanks for the wonderful article! Brighton Beach was the very first neighborhood I lived in Brooklyn, from 1995 to 1996. I have found memories of spending summers there after I moved out of the neighborhood. The blizzard the hit the city in the winter of 1996 was especially memorable with the huge piles of snow along the boardwalk and shoreline. I felt like I was in some sort of weird Tarkovsky dream there.
18
"Avoidance, generally, plays a big role. Now that everyone's been long reunited, they've had the chance to become annoying again. Hence the tendency to jet down the shadow part of street, dash behind corners, keep head down."
One of many intriguing observations woven throughout this article. Well done collaboration.
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What amazing writing and photography! A pure joy to read. I will remember “the brine of nostalgia” for a while. Such a love letter. Thank you.
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Nicely written. Great photos! Thanks.
15
What a wonderfully poetic article, rich in the idiom of the old world, bursting with verbal imagery - and fantastic photographs. Thank you!
36
Bravo! so well-written and photographed, but alas, now the secret is out. Will BB be inundated with ironic hipsters, searching for kitsch?
My summer ritual is to head down to BB as early as possible: the beach is divine at around 9 am in July: just a few young women with their babies, and some senior citizens. The water is like a giant salt-water pool--people do laps off shore. It's clean and not clean: there are schools of tiny fish in the shallows, among various oceanic and terrestrial detritus. Then after changing in the dismal bathrooms [hello, whoever's in charge: can you please renovate?] I go over to the Turkish market to buy coffee, turkish bread, and chocolate covered pistachios.
Scowls on the street are de rigeur, so supremely the antithesis of "have a nice day". Which is fine because I always have a nice day in Brighton.
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@C.E. The neighborhood will continue to be saved from an invasion of outside hipsters by the reliably bad subway service that the MTA provides so effortlessly.
24
Many Russians living in NYC outside of Brighton Beach refer to the subject of this article as the "Zoopark of the Soviet Period" - a two-level word play traceable to the Russian translation of the "Jurassic Park" movie. It's a place to take B or Q (parking? - bring your own validol (heart medicine)) on a safari through "Russian" stores, the only places where you can get the real wild mushrooms and T-shirts with New-Aged Fedya Dostoevsky. It also features more fur per square foot than The Met Opera, and doubles as exotic (albeit non-petting Zoo) - our favorite game strolling on the boardwalk is spotting "The Shirtless Men Who On No Account Should Be Seen Shirtless In Public" (top score - 227).
It is also a trap of sorts for people who come to US unburdened by the knowledge of the English language, US history, laws, and customs. I know people who lived 30 years without leaving the five-block area, where stores, doctors, dentists - everything - is in Russian. The perfect comfort zone, until you get an officially-looking paper in the mail, and can't tell electric bill from the voter registration form. But you can always show it to Olga Ivanovna from apartment 4G - her son goes to Kingsborough, and speaks English. Why, he even has an American girlfriend, yes, of course she is a vegetarian, but otherwise a sweet girl.
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@Gordon SMC That last bit could be from the Lower East Side of 1915. There was always a young kid to go with grandma to speak English. The language changed, but not the social dynamic.
39
"she is a vegetarian, but otherwise a sweet girl" - love this!
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@common sense advocate don't for get the "of course" part. The American Girlfriend is for many older - and many of the newcomers - a mysterious creature. And her turning out to be a vegetarian is the ever-present danger...
19
Great article. Thanks for leaving out the politics. Not everything needs to be about politics.
73
Not particularly religious, but can here an Amen to that!!!!
1
Great pictorial. Great article. I lived in BB in the 70s when the Russians moved in and greatly improved the area with their spirit for life.
34
w
Wonderful article, beautifully written, celebrating the movement of people , many Jewish, from one country to another, in search of security and a future for their children. A perpetual story: "we will be safer here than where we were." Thanks for the humor, the food (one can smell the delicious aromas) and the insight. The stereotype of Brighton Beach is a haven for criminals. The reality: ordinary people like all of us trying to find a new home, a new belonging.....
57
A really terrific profile (both words and photos) of Brighton Beach. But, why did you leave out the politics? I find it interesting that people who lived under such terrifying circumstances voted predominately for Trump, the American friend of oligarchs and dictators.
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@Susan Thanks for the comment, and I am sure it was heartfelt, but to me, this was a longly long article of the type that the NYT had all the time in the eighties and nineties.
It was so wonderful it didn't have anything about Trump or politics. I could just read and enjoy and not feel bad.
The 12 people who recommended this comment, can't we please allow just one or two articles of the type I use to love? Nothing to do with Trump? No arguments about Trump? There are so many articles about people who support Trump, and why, this one wasn't about that, and it was lovely.
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KTT - agreed - it was a nice break from the rest of the ugly headlines
15
@Susan Interesting question. But, I can't figure out why ANYBODY voted for Trump. Maybe because Trump is so self-assured it feels like he must be a lansman?
11
Gevalt, this is a fantastic set of photos with amazing writing.
Yeleneshka! You’ve made me almost happy today!
Although I read this on my phone and I have to say that my hands hurt a little from holding it for so long while I read. I’m eating breakfast.
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Buy a phone cover with a kickstand like I have and you’ll be able to eat your breakfast and read the NYT without any hand pain.
3