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102

Down by the Sea
I

In Brighton
Beach, better
known as
Little Odessa,
the rhythms
of life on the
boardwalk have
a decidedly
Russian lilt.

PHOTOS BY
KIM MULLER-THYM

n the early 1970s, it
earned the nickname
"Little Odessa." Jews
from Odessa flocked
to Brighton Beach,
Brooklyn, for its
beach front and distinctly Rus-
sian flavor.
Today, waves of immigrants
from all over the former Soviet
Union continue to move to the
area. Businesses are mostly
Russian-owned. They speak
their native tongue in the streets
and set up games of dominos

and chess on the boardwalk
Distinctly Russian bodies in)
American bathing suits fill the
beach.
It is the place to be for Sovi-
et emigres in New York and
many come to this country
knowing about the neighbor-
hood and even which streets/,
are the most desirable. "Peo-
ple know all about this in thz;
former Soviet Union," said Mark
Handelman, executive vice
president of the New York As-
sociation for New Americans