Brighton Beach

Brighton Beach is a neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, within the greater Coney Island area along the Atlantic Ocean coastline.<ref name=":0" /> Brighton Beach is bounded by Coney Island proper at Ocean Parkway to the west, Manhattan Beach at Corbin Place to the east, Sheepshead Bay at the Belt Parkway to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south along the beach and boardwalk.

It is known for its high population of Russian-speaking immigrants, and as a summer destination for New York City residents due to its beaches along the Atlantic Ocean and its proximity to the amusement parks in Coney Island.

Brighton Beach is part of Brooklyn Community District 13, and its primary ZIP Code is 11235.<ref name="NYCPlanning" /> It is patrolled by the 60th Precinct of the New York City Police Department.<ref name="NYPD 60th Precinct" /> Politically, Brighton Beach is represented by the New York City Council's 48th District.<ref name=":1">Current City Council Districts for Kings County Template:Webarchive, New York City. Accessed May 5, 2017.</ref>

History

Early development

Template:Stack Brighton Beach is included in an area from Sheepshead Bay to Sea Gate that was purchased from the Native Americans in 1645 for a gun, a blanket and a kettle.<ref name="Douglass">Template:Cite journal</ref>

Brighton Beach was located on sandy terrain, and before development in the 1860s, had mostly farms. The area was part of the "Middle Division" of the town of Gravesend, which was the sole English settlement out of the original six towns in Kings County. By the mid-18th century, thirty-nine lots in the division had been distributed to the descendants of English colonists.<ref name="Williams" />

In 1868, William A. Engeman built a resort in the area.<ref name="Coney Island Hotels" /> The resort was given the name "Brighton Beach" in 1878 by Henry C. Murphy and a group of businessmen, who chose the name as an allusion to the English resort city of Brighton.<ref name="Citycyclopedia">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Our Brooklyn 1936">Template:Cite web</ref> With the help of Gravesend's surveyor William Stillwell, Engeman acquired all 39 lots for the relatively low cost of $20,000.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="Phalen2016">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp Mostly patronized by the upper middle class, this Template:Convert hotel close to the then-rundown western Coney Island had rooms for up to 5,000 guests nightly and served meals for up to 20,000 people daily.<ref name="Williams">Template:Cite journal</ref> The Template:Convert, double-decker Brighton Beach Bathing Pavilion was also built nearby and opened in 1878, with the capacity for 1,200 bathers.<ref name="Our Brooklyn 1936" /><ref name=Phalen2016 />Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> "Hotel Brighton", also known as the "Brighton Beach Hotel", was situated on the beach at what is now the foot of Coney Island Avenue.<ref name="Coney Island Hotels">Template:Cite web</ref> The Brooklyn, Flatbush, and Coney Island Railway, the predecessor to the New York City Subway's present-day Brighton Line, opened on July 2, 1878, and provided access to the hotel.<ref name=Phalen2016 />Template:Rp<ref name="NYCS 2001">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="NYTImes-AnotherRR-Jul1878">Template:Cite web</ref>

Adjacent to the hotel, Engeman built the Brighton Beach Race Course for thoroughbred horse racing.<ref name="Coney Island Hotels" /> In December 1887, an extremely high tide washed over the area, creating a new, temporary connection between Sheepshead Bay and the ocean. Wrote the Brooklyn Daily Eagle: "Unless [Engeman] is very lucky the next races on the Brighton Beach track will be conducted by the white crested horses of Neptune."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

After that extremely high tide, and a decade of beach erosion, the Brighton Beach Hotel, by then owned by the Railway, faced the possibility of being "undermined and carried away."<ref name="SciAmer1888">Template:Cite journalTemplate:Subscription required</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A "highly ingenious and novel" plan to elevate and move the entire building was begun by railway Superintendent J.L. Morrow and Secretary E.L. Langford. It was accomplished by lifting the entire estimated 5000-ton Template:Convert hotel on 13 hydraulic jacks, raising the building above its plot, and then laying 24 lines of railroad track – a mile and a half long altogether – under it; then the building temporarily on 112 railroad "platform cars" (flat cars) was pulled by six steam locomotives and relocated another 495 feet inland.<ref name=SciAmer1888 /> This careful engineering (by B.C. Miller) made the move successful; it began on April 2, 1888, and continued for nine days, and was the largest building relocation of the 19th century.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Subscription required</ref>

Anton Seidl and the Metropolitan Opera brought their popular interpretations of Wagner to the Brighton Beach Music Hall, where John Philip Sousa was in residence, and the New Brighton Theater was a hotspot for vaudeville. Visitors for tea at Reisenweber's Brighton Beach Casino would be served by Japanese waitresses in full costume. At an enormous private club, the Brighton Beach Baths, members could swim, access a private beach, and play handball, mah-jongg, and cards.<ref name="Williams" />

The village, along with the rest of Gravesend, was annexed into the 31st Ward of the City of Brooklyn in 1894.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Early 20th century

In 1905, Brighton Beach Park opened its own area of amusements, called Brighton Pike. Brighton Pike offered a boardwalk, games, live entertainment (including the Miller Brothers' wild-west show: 101 Ranch), and a huge steel roller coaster. In May 1919, most of the park was burned down, including the roller coaster.<ref name="Williams" /><ref name=":1" /> The beach remained popular.<ref name="Our Brooklyn 1936" />

Brighton Beach was re-developed as a fairly dense residential community with the final rebuilding of the Brighton Beach railway to rapid transit standards, becoming the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT)'s Brighton Line, which opened as a subway line in August 1920 (the line is now served by the New York City Subway's Template:NYCS trains). The subway line within the neighborhood is above ground on an elevated structure. The opening of the BMT Brighton Line had conflicting consequences: although it made Brighton Beach viable as a year-round community, it was now much more feasible for visitors to return home in the evening rather than spend the night. This led to the closure of the Brighton Beach Hotel in 1924.<ref name="Williams" />

The years just before and following the Great Depression brought with them a neighborhood consisting mostly of first- and second-generation Jewish-Americans and, later, Holocaust concentration camp survivors.<ref name="Internet Archive 2008" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Of the estimated 55,000 Holocaust survivors living in New York City as of 2011, most live in Brighton Beach.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> To meet the bursting cultural demands, the New Brighton Theater converted itself to the States' first Yiddish theater in 1919.<ref name="Williams" /><ref name="Internet Archive 2008">Template:Cite web</ref>

Today, Brighton Beach has many synagogues and Jewish institutions, including a Chabad center,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> a Mikvah and a Jewish day school called Mazel.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Late 20th century and Soviet immigration

File:Театр Миллениум.jpg

The "Millennium Theater", now the "Master Theater" and NetCost supermarket

After World War II, the quality of life in Brighton Beach decreased significantly as the poverty rate and the ratio of older residents to younger residents increased; this was primarily effectuated by the postwar codification of rent regulation in New York, which incentivized middle-aged residents and retirees (particularly the aforementioned first- and second-generation Jewish-American residents, many of whom had eschewed homeownership in favor of investing their savings in family businesses or postsecondary educations for their children) to retain their units in the prewar six-story semi-fireproof elevator apartment houses that lined Brightwater Court and other nearby thoroughfares for decades.<ref name="Our Brooklyn 1936" /> During the 1970s fiscal crisis, the exodus of government workers and other middle class residents to suburban areas accelerated; accordingly, many of Brighton Beach's freestanding houses and bungalows were subdivided into single room occupancy residences for the poor, the elderly and the mentally ill. Brighton Beach suffered from arson as much as it did from constant drug trades.<ref name="Our Brooklyn 1936" /> During the summer, however, people from all around the city continued to flock to Brighton Beach's beach next to the Atlantic Ocean.<ref name="Our Brooklyn 1936" />

In the mid-1970s, Brighton Beach became a popular place to settle for Soviet immigrants, mostly Ashkenazi Jews from Russia and Ukraine.<ref name="Our Brooklyn 1936" /> So many Soviet Jews immigrated to Brighton Beach that the area became known as "Little Odessa" (after the Ukrainian city on the Black Sea with a significant Jewish population in the first half of 20th century).<ref name="Our Brooklyn 1936" />

The 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent significant changes in the social and economic circumstances of post-Soviet states led thousands of former Soviet citizens to immigrate to the United States.<ref name="Our Brooklyn 1936" /> Many more immigrants from the former Soviet Union, who primarily spoke Russian, chose Brighton Beach as a place to settle.<ref>Brighton Beach: Strengthening Community Resiliency – Final Report Template:Webarchive, Hester Street, February 2016. Accessed August 16, 2024. "Brighton Beach, located on one of the nation’s most iconic urban beach fronts, has long been a neighborhood of immigrants. Following the fall of the Soviet Union, a wave of Russian immigrants settled in Brighton Beach."</ref> This included an influx of immigrants from the Caucasus, mostly from countries such as Georgia and Azerbaijan.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

A large number of Russian immigrant firms, shops, restaurants, clubs, offices, banks, schools, and children's play centers opened in the area.<ref name="jewish daily forward 201209" /> The value of real estate in Brighton Beach started to rise again, even though drugs remained a social issue in the area through the early 1990s.<ref name="Our Brooklyn 1936" />

In the early 2000s, a high-income ocean-front condominium complex, the "Oceana", was constructed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This address has become the destination of wealthy businessmen, entertainers, and senior officials from the former Soviet Union, and with their purchase of units at the Oceana, area housing prices have risen.<ref name="jewish daily forward 201209">Template:Cite web</ref>

Since the early 2010s, a significant number of Central Asian immigrants have also chosen Brighton Beach as a place to settle.<ref name="jewish daily forward 201209" />

Culture

Brighton Beach Avenue runs parallel to the Coney Island beach and boardwalk.<ref>Template:Google maps</ref> The proximity of Brighton Beach to the city's beaches and the fact that the neighborhood is directly served by a subway station make it a popular summer weekend destination for New York City residents.<ref name="Our Brooklyn 1936" />

• Brighton Beach's culture
• 
  Russian stores in Brighton Beach
• 
  Backgammon players at Second Street Park in 2012
• 
  A Russian-language bookstore under the New York City Subway tracks on Coney Island Avenue in Brighton Beach
• Error creating thumbnail:
  Crowded Brighton Beach on a summer afternoon
• Error creating thumbnail:
  Water sports on Brighton Beach

• Brighton Beach housing
• The Oceana luxury condominiums on Brighton Beach, built in the early 2000s
  The Oceana luxury condominiums on Brighton Beach, built in the early 2000s
• Juxtaposition of apartments and private homes
  Juxtaposition of apartments and private homes
• Brighton 15th Street
  Brighton 15th Street

Russian-speaking culture

File:Storefront of NY Central Pharmacy.jpg

A Brighton Beach storefront's sign, which features both its English and Russian names.

As apartment buildings started to be built in large numbers in the 1930s, many of those who moved into the neighborhood were Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, often by way of the Lower East Side. They came from many countries, but also set the stage for a later wave of Jewish immigration from the Soviet Union that started in the 1970s, when Brighton Beach became known as "Little Odessa,"<ref name="nickname">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="NYC Parks Boardwalk" /> and "Little Russia".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> An annual festival, the Brighton Jubilee, celebrates the area's Russian-speaking heritage, being populated heavily by Russian and Ukrainian Americans.<ref name="Williams" /> The area has also been called "the land of pelmeni, matryoshkas, tracksuits, and...vodka" due to its large population of Soviet immigrants.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

In 2006, Alec Brook-Krasny was elected for the 46th District of the New York State Assembly, which includes Brighton Beach, becoming the country's first elected Soviet-born politician.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Demographics

Template:See also Based on data from the 2010 United States census, the population of Brighton Beach was 35,547, an increase of 303 (0.9%) from the 35,244 counted in 2000. Covering an area of Template:Convert, the neighborhood had a population density of Template:Convert.<ref name="PLP5">Table PL-P5 NTA: Total Population and Persons Per Acre – New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010 Template:Webarchive, Population Division – New York City Department of City Planning, February 2012. Accessed June 16, 2016.</ref> The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 69.7% (24,774) White, 1.0% (352) African American, 0.2% (61) Native American, 12.9% (4,580) Asian, 0.0% (10) Pacific Islander, 0.4% (139) from other races, and 1.2% (442) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 14.6% (5,189) of the population.<ref name="PLP3A">Table PL-P3A NTA: Total Population by Mutually Exclusive Race and Hispanic Origin – New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010 Template:Webarchive, Population Division – New York City Department of City Planning, March 29, 2011. Accessed June 14, 2016.</ref>

In 1983, Brighton Beach consisted mostly of older, middle-class Jews; 27% of Brighton Beach was of age 62 or older, compared to the national average 13.9% at the time.<ref name=Dolan /> Since the 1990s, however, the neighborhood's ethnic demographics have been changing, with a large influx of Central Asian immigrants—namely Uzbeks.<ref name="jewish daily forward 201209" /> In subsequent years, the proportion of whites leveled out, the proportion of blacks decreased significantly, and the proportion of Asians increased to 14% as of 2014.<ref name="censusreporter.org">Template:Cite news</ref> Template:As of, increasing numbers of Muslim Central Asians were moving into Brighton Beach, and based on the historic Soviet influence over these areas, these immigrants also speak Russian.<ref name="jewish daily forward 201209" /><ref>[1] Template:Webarchive</ref>

According to the United States Census report of 2010, Brighton Beach and Coney Island, combined, had 111,063 residents as of 2009.<ref name="rpt8-2012">Template:Cite book</ref> In that year, the median age of the combined Brighton Beach and Coney Island area was 47.9 years, substantially higher than the median age in Brooklyn of 34.2 and in New York City as a whole at 36.0.<ref name="rpt8-2012" /> As DiNapoli and Bleiwas note in a city report, "the number of residents aged 65 years and older in [this area] rose by 4.1 percent, so that senior citizens accounted for more than one-quarter of the area's population" at that date.<ref name="rpt8-2012" /> According to the census, the population density in Brighton Beach, per se (52,109 people per square mile), was almost twice the average population density of New York City (27,012 people per square mile), though the average household size was 2.1 people, lower than the city average of 2.6 people. The average income of households in the area was $36,574, while the average income in the whole city was $55,217, according to the 2010 census. In Brighton Beach, 21% of the population lives below the poverty line,<ref name="censusreporter.org" /> compared to only 15.4% citywide.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Most of the population of Brighton Beach are immigrants. Less than a quarter (23.3%) of Brighton Beach residents were born in the United States, and nearly three-quarters were born abroad (72.9%). Because of this, English language proficiency in Brighton Beach is lower than the city average. More than a third (36.1%) of the population of Brighton Beach does not speak or understand English, while citywide, only one in fourteen people (7.2%) cannot speak or understand English.<ref name="rpt8-2012" />

The New York City Department of City Planning showed that in the 2020 census data that there were between 20,000 and 29,000 White residents and between 5,000 and 9,999 Asian residents, meanwhile each the Hispanic and Black populations were each less than 5000 residents.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Theater

The Brighton Ballet Theater, established in 1987, is one of the most famous Russian ballet schools in the United States.<ref name=BBT /> More than 3,000 children have trained in ballet, modern and character dances, and folk dances here.<ref name="BBT">See:

• Template:Cite news
• Template:Cite news
• Template:Cite news</ref>

A Russian-speaking theater near the waterfront, Template:Interlanguage link, formerly the Millennium Theater and the Oceana Theatre,<ref name="Weaver 2019 s712">Template:Cite web</ref> features performances by actors from the U.S., Russia, and other countries.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Police and crime

Brighton Beach is patrolled by the NYPD's 60th Precinct, located at 2950 West Eighth Street.<ref name="NYPD 60th Precinct">Template:Cite web</ref> The 60th Precinct ranked 34th safest out of 69 patrol areas for per-capita crime in 2010. Between 1993 and 2010, major crimes decreased by 72%, including a 76% decrease in robberies, 71% decrease in felony assaults, and 67% decrease in shootings.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The 60th Precinct has a substantially lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 77.5% between 1990 and 2022. The precinct reported five murders, 16 rapes, 179 robberies, 373 felony assaults, 159 burglaries, 527 grand larcenies, and 121 grand larcenies auto in 2022.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Brighton Beach is considered a hot spot for the Russian Bratva,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> though public perception has been that organized crime "has largely gone away."<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In the 1970s, the most notorious leg of the mafia was the Potato Bag Gang,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> which served as a robbery gang for larger Russian crime syndicates in New York City. Marat Balagula was a crime boss from Brighton Beach who denies having any connection to the American Mafia or the Russian-speaking Mafia.Template:Citation needed The major Russian criminal element in Brighton Beach was the international Russian mafia group, known as vor v zakone or "vory," and the first vory crime boss in Brighton Beach was Evsei Agron, who controlled the area's crime during the 1970s and 1980s until his death in 1985.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, many ethnic Russian criminals illegally entered the United States, coming especially to Brighton Beach.Template:Citation needed The infamous vor Vyacheslav Ivankov, who dominated the Brighton Beach underworld until his arrest in 1995, arrived during this wave.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Fire safety

The New York City Fire Department (FDNY) operates the Engine Co. 246/Ladder Co. 169 firehouse at 2732 East 11th Street.<ref>Template:Cite FDNY locations</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Post office and ZIP Code

Brighton Beach's ZIP Code is 11235.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The United States Postal Service operates the Brighton Station post office at 3157 Coney Island Avenue.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Parks

There are several public parks in Brighton Beach, operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation:

• The Coney Island Boardwalk and Beach run along the coastline south of Brighton Beach.<ref name="NYC Parks Boardwalk">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Brighton Beach Playground, located on the Boardwalk at Brighton 2nd Street and Brightwater Court, was built in 1950 and renovated in the late 1990s.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Asser Levy Park located near the Boardwalk between Surf Avenue and Sea Breeze Avenue.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Century Playground, located on the site of former summer bungalows near PS 370, was built in the late 1960s and renovated in 2012.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Grady Playground, located on an irregular area between Shore Parkway, Brighton 3rd Street, and Brighton 4th Street. It contains baseball fields, basketball courts, handball courts, playgrounds, and water spray showers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• A traffic island at Brighton 14th Street, Corbin Place, and Ocean View Avenue was dedicated as Babi Yar Triangle in 1981, in honor of the victims of the Babi Yar massacre, and renovated in 1988.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Transportation

File:Brighton Beach - Coney Island Bound Platform.jpg

The Brighton Beach subway station

The New York City Subway serves the neighborhood at the Brighton Beach (Template:NYCS trains) and Ocean Parkway (Template:NYCS trains) stations. Both are located on the elevated Brighton Line structure over Brighton Beach Avenue.<ref>Template:NYCS const</ref> Buses serving Brighton Beach include the Template:NYC bus link.<ref>Template:Cite NYC bus map</ref>

Education

Schools

Brighton Beach is served by the New York City Department of Education. Primary and middle schools within Brighton Beach include P.S. 225 The Eileen E. Zaglin School for grades K–8,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and P.S. 253 the Ezra Jack Keats International School.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1983, the Community School District 21 operated PS 225, PS 253, and Junior High School 302.<ref name="Dolan" /> During that year, over 62% of its students read at or above their grade level, far above the national average.<ref name=Dolan /> PS 100, The Coney Island School for grades K–5<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Scharfenberg1">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and 303 Herbert S. Eisenberg are both located nearby in Coney Island.<ref name=Scharfenberg1 /><ref name="Hughes2">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="nyc.gov">Template:Cite web</ref>

William E. Grady CTE High School, a vocational school, is located in Brighton Beach.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Abraham Lincoln High School, an academic high school, is in Coney Island.<ref name=Scharfenberg1 /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1983 Lincoln was the zoned academic high school of Brighton Beach.<ref name=Dolan /> Other nearby high schools include the Rachel Carson High School for Coastal Studies<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and The Leon M. Goldstein High School for the Sciences.<ref>[2]Template:Dead link</ref>

Library

The Brooklyn Public Library's Brighton Beach branch is located at 16 Brighton First Road, near Brighton Beach Avenue. The branch contains a large collection of media in Russian. The branch opened in December 1949, but due to high patronage, moved to its current location in 1964. The branch was renovated in the early 1990s.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In popular culture

Template:More citations needed section The neighborhood has been mentioned or appears many times in popular culture:

• Film
  • Brighton Beach is featured in the Russian spy-comedy film Weather Is Good on Deribasovskaya, It Rains Again on Brighton Beach (1992).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • The film Little Odessa (1994) is set in Brighton Beach.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • In the film Maximum Risk (1996), starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, the main character faces off against the Russian Mob in Brighton Beach.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
  • The film Requiem for a Dream (2000) is largely set in Brighton Beach.<ref>Mitchell, Elvis. "Film Review; Addicted to Drugs and Drug Rituals" Template:Webarchive, The New York Times, October 6, 2000. Accessed September 3, 2019. "It's never clear when the movie is set, but its Brighton Beach isn't pretty."</ref>
  • Brighton Beach is featured in the Russian crime film Brother 2 (2000).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
  • Brighton Beach is featured in the drama Lord of War (2005), starring Nicolas Cage, where the protagonist and his family immigrated to from Ukraine in order to escape the Soviet Union.<ref>Swartzfell, Griffin. "Netflix Picks: Lords of War" Template:Webarchive, Colorado Springs Independent, August 23, 2015. Accessed January 19, 2018. "Lord of War is the tale of the American dream gone as wrong as possible. Yuri Orlov (Cage) and his family fled the Ukraine for Brighton Beach."</ref>
  • In the film Two Lovers (2008), the action takes place in Brighton Beach.<ref>Fairbanks, Amanda M. "Brighton Beach, N.J." Template:Webarchive, The New York Times, February 27, 2009. Accessed February 26, 2017. "IN scene after scene in Two Lovers, the new movie starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Joaquin Phoenix as a star-crossed couple, the Brooklyn neighborhood of Brighton Beach is on lush display."</ref>
  • The film Anora (2024) is set against the backdrop of Brighton Beach, which is the Russian-speaking protagonist's hometown.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
• Literature
  • In Robin Cook's novel Vector (2000), disillusioned former Russian biochemical worker Yuri Davydov develops weapons-grade anthrax in the basement of his Brighton Beach home.<ref>"Vector by Robin Cook", Kirkus Reviews. Accessed February 26, 2017. "An anti-Semite, Yuri feels dismissed as a human being by American Zionists and has set up a bioweapons lab in his basement in Brighton Beach, undertaking what he calls Operation Revenge."</ref>
  • Hubert Selby's novel Requiem for a Dream is set in Brighton Beach during the 1970s.
  • "B for Brighton Beach" Mikhail Salita<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • "Princess of Brighton"<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> (Russian edition) Mikhail Salita
• Plays
  • Neil Simon's play Brighton Beach Memoirs (1983), which won two Tony Awards in 1983, as well as its 1986 film adaptation, are both set against the backdrop of Brighton Beach during the Great Depression, in 1937.<ref name="Dolan">Template:Cite journal</ref>
• Television
  • A Lifetime reality TV show called Russian Dolls, documenting the lives of young Russian-Americans and a group of Brighton Beach housewives spending time in a popular Russian nightclub, Rasputin Restaurant, premiered August 11, 2011.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Video games
  • Brighton Beach is prominently featured as a fictionalised version in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV (as "Hove Beach"), and is where the player's first safe-house is.

Notable residents

Notable current and former residents of Brighton Beach include: Template:Div col

• Marv Albert (born 1940), sportscaster<ref>Albert, Marv. "Back Home in Brooklyn, Marv Albert Welcomes a New Resident" Template:Webarchive, The New York Times, October 29, 2012. Accessed November 9, 2021. "Growing up in Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, I was as passionate about basketball as baseball."</ref>
• Marat Balagula (1943–2019), neighborhood mob boss during the 1980s<ref>"In New York, the 'father of the Russian mafia' died: who was Marat Balagula", Forum Daily, December 28, 2019. Accessed November 9, 2021. "Balagula emigrated to the USA from Odesa in 1977 and settled in the Brighton Beach area of Brooklyn, where he became a co-owner of one of the first Russian restaurants 'Sadko', and then 'Odesa', where Willie Tokarev sang for many years."</ref>
• Herbert Berman (1933–2014), politician who served on the New York City Council<ref>Hicks, Jonathan P. "Two Comptroller Candidates Try to Make No. 3 Job Visible" Template:Webarchive, The New York Times, March 14, 2001. Accessed September 3, 2019. "Over three recent days, Councilman Herbert E. Berman took his quest to a civic association dinner in Queens, a church organization dinner in Brooklyn, appearances before political clubs and an interview by the Working Families Party.... Mr. Berman, 67, grew up in Brighton Beach and Coney Island."</ref>
• Gail Brodsky (born 1991), professional tennis player<ref>Blas, Howard. "Former Jewish Phenom Brodsky Back In The Swing Of Things; 'I did have the bug to start playing little by little,' reports Brodsky, 'And I felt I still had the goods!'", The Jerusalem Post, September 3, 2018. Accessed September 3, 2019. "Brodsky, an only child, was born Jewish, in the Ukraine, and moved to Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, at the age of two."</ref>
• Adele Cohen (born 1942), member of the New York State Assembly, representing the 46th district, from to 1998 to 2006<ref>Sengupta, Somini. "Neighborhood Report: Brooklyn Up Close; Ever the Loyal Democrat, Lachman Reaps His Reward" Template:Webarchive, The New York Times, January 28, 1986. Accessed September 3, 2019. "The nomination process 'gives party insiders a lot more clout than in a primary, because you don't reach the general voter,' said one of Mr. Lachman's unsuccessful rivals, Adele Cohen, a union attorney from Brighton Beach."</ref>
• Herb Cohen (born 1940), 2x Olympic foil fencer
• Eddie Daniels (born 1941), clarinettist and saxophonist<ref>"Eddie Daniels"Template:Dead link, National Public Radio. Accessed February 26, 2017. "Clarinetist Eddie Daniels was born in 1941 and raised in the Brighton Beach neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, NY."</ref>
• Neil Diamond (born 1941), songwriter, musician artist grew up in Brighton Beach<ref>Daniels, Karu F. "Neil Diamond biographical musical headed to Broadway" Template:Webarchive, New York Daily News, July 1, 2019. Accessed September 3, 2019. "Neil Diamond's life story is heading to Broadway, it was announced Monday.... The 78-year-old native of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, quit touring in 2018 when he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease."</ref>
• Jane Freilicher (1924–2014), representational painter of urban and country scenes<ref>Grimes, William. "Jane Freilicher, 90, a Lyrical Painter of Long Island Landscapes, Is Dead" Template:Webarchive, The New York Times, December 10, 2014. Accessed September 3, 2019. "She was born Jane Niederhoffer on Nov. 29, 1924, in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn and grew up in Brighton Beach."</ref>
• Howard Greenfield (1936–1986), songwriter<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Alfred Harvey (1913–1994), founder of Harvey Comics<ref>Simon, Joe. Joe Simon: My Life in Comics p. 74. Titan Books, 2011. Template:ISBN. Accessed September 3, 2019. "Like most guys in the business, Al Harvey had shortened his name, and more than most.... He and his brothers grew up in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn."</ref>
• David B. Hollander (1913–2009), longest active pulpit rabbi in America<ref>Zaklikowski, Dovid. "Rabbi David B. Hollander, Defender of Jewish Faith and Practice, Passes Away" Template:Webarchive, Chabad, February 18, 2009. Accessed February 26, 2017. "Hollander remained at the Mount Eden Jewish Center until its closing in 1980 due to the migration of Jews to other areas of the city. His next pulpit, which he held until his passing, was at the Hebrew Alliance Congregation in the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn."</ref>
• Vyacheslav Ivankov (1940–2009), alleged crime boss<ref>Tyre, Peg. "A Russian mob grows in Brooklyn Law officials finger alleged 'godfather'" Template:Webarchive, CNN, May 23, 1996. Accessed September 3, 2019. "Vyacheslav Ivankov allegedly runs the Russian mob from his Brooklyn stronghold and has strong ties to the Mafia as well. Ivankov lives in Brighton Beach, sometimes called Little Odesa."</ref>
• David Julius (born 1955), Nobel laureate<ref>Julius, David. "Biographical" Template:Webarchive, Nobel Prize, 2023. Accessed October 27, 2024. "Born in 1955, I grew up in a seaside Brooklyn neighborhood − immortalized by Neil Simon’s play ‘Brighton Beach Memoirs’ "</ref>
• Jack Kirby (1917–1994), comic book artist, co-creator of Captain America during the early 1940s and the Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Incredible Hulk in the 1960sTemplate:Citation needed
• Sergei Kobozev (1964–1995), Russian boxer<ref>Rondeaux, Candace. "The Murder of a Russian Boxer" , The Village Voice, February 19, 2002. Accessed September 3, 2019. "There definitely was more to Sergei Kobozev than his violent end. He first earned his rep fighting for the Soviet national boxing team at the Seoul Olympics in 1988. When he moved to Brighton Beach in 1991 he was part of a wave of Soviet bloc boxers recruited by Gallagher to go pro in the States."</ref>
• Lea Bayers Rapp (born 1946), author, journalist, playwright<ref name="kensingtonbooks1">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Vladimir Reznikov, Russian-American hitman, murdered outside of the infamous Odesa Restaurant in 1986<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Gene Russianoff, chief spokesman for the Straphangers Campaign, a public transport advocacy group that focuses primarily on subway and bus services run by New York City Transit<ref>Haberman, Clyde. "For Voice of Straphangers, a Journey Without Stops" Template:Webarchive, The New York Times, August 25, 2013. Accessed September 3, 2019. "Gene Russianoff, who has spent most of his adult life reflecting upon and fretting about New York City's subways, remembers the first time he rode a train alone.... 'We lived in Brighton Beach, exactly where the el is — now the B, then the D,' he said over breakfast at a diner near his office in Lower Manhattan."</ref>
• Neil Sedaka (born 1939), songwriter<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Seymour Siwoff (1920–2019), president and chief executive of the Elias Sports Bureau for seven decades<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Peter Steele (1962–2010), lead singer and bassist of the metal band Type O Negative, who grew up in Brighton Beach, and has Brighton Beach as a returning symbol in several of his songs with Type O Negative.
• Boris Thomashefsky (1866–1939), Ukrainian-born Jewish singer and actor who became one of the biggest stars in Yiddish theatre<ref>"Thomashefsky, 71, Yiddish Actor, Dies; He Introduced the Theatre to His People on the East Side Delighting Packed Houses Shakespeare Enthusiast Had Bard's Works Translated --Wrote 500 Plays--Brought Bertha Kalich to America" Template:Webarchive, The New York Times, July 10, 1939. Accessed September 3, 2019. "For years, he lived in Brighton Beach."</ref>
• Willi Tokarev (1934–2019), Russian-American singer and songwriterTemplate:Citation needed
• The Tokens, vocal group formed in 1955 at Abraham Lincoln High School<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Jerry Wurf, (1919–1981) labor leader and president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) from 1964 to 1981<ref>Serrin, William. "A Leader For The Little Guy" Template:Webarchive, The New York Times, September 12, 1982. Accessed September 3, 2019. "Jerry Wurf was one of the most remarkable union men of this century. Born in New York City in 1919 to immigrant parents from Austria and Hungary, he was stricken with polio when he was 4 years old, spent much of his youth in a wheelchair and always walked with a limp. The family settled in the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn where the bookish boy came into early contact with the politically militant left-wing groups of the Depression Era, including the Young People's Socialist League, in which he was active before the war."</ref>

Template:AnchorIn addition, Disco Freddy (also called Larry the Unbelievable at the beginning of his public career), was one of the notable characters on the Riegelmann Boardwalk during the late 1970s through the early 1980s. During his performing heyday, he was about 60 years old.<ref name="Abramovitch">Template:Cite book</ref>

See also

• Jackson–Vanik amendment
• Russian diaspora
• Odesan Russian

Further reading

• Coney Island History: The Rise and Fall of Engeman's Brighton Beach Resort at Heart of Coney Island
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite journal

External links

• Live camera in Brighton Beach