BRIGHTON
BEACH, NEW YORK—
We got off
the subway at Coney Island, the end of the line in Brooklyn. The Cyclone
roller coaster had been shut down for the winter, and a solitary concessionaire
was selling tickets to a cockroach circus. We'd missed hot dog season,
so we headed up the boardwalk.
Clear skies
had attracted cyclists, roller-bladers and dog-walkers, but as we made
our way north, we noticed people clad in fur coats and hats basking on
the benches. "They aren't speaking English," said Mark. A bilingual
sign revealed that we'd found our way to Little Odessa. Brighton Beach
is one of the largest Russian communities outside Moscow, and it looked
as though every resident was making the most of a sunny day.
It's hard
to find a sign in English on the two blocks of Brighton Beach Avenue under
the elevated train, and we were obvious tourists. Street vendors hawking
everything from sweaters to pastries obligingly switched to English as
we passed.
We went inside
M&I International Foods, where a stunning array of meats, sausages,
chickens, caviar, cheese, chocolate and bread had attracted everyone who
wasn't relaxing on the boardwalk. Clerks in starched uniforms and lace
hats were keeping dozens of cash registers ringing. Most of the customers
pulled wheeled wire carts piled high with a week's worth of groceries.
We tried
the wares of a sidewalk vendor, and bought a loaf of caraway bread. We
climbed back on the subway feeling as though we really had been halfway
around the world. Next time you're in New York, remember that US$1.50
is all it takes to get to Odessa, and you don't even need a passport.
11/96
M&I International
Foods
249 Brighton Beach Avenue
Brighton Beach, New York
To
Russia, by Subway
