Who will save Brighton

As a Russian-speaking immigrant from Virginia, I saw Brighton Beach 20 years ago and fell in love with it. Restaurants, shops with fashionable clothes, grocery stores where shelves of delicacies were crammed, a store of Russian books ... I liked that Russian, Jewish, Odessa culture could coexist together in parallel with the American one. Brighton was not just a street, it was a way of life. Unfortunately, 20 years later, today, I see the need for cardinal changes that are vital for the Russian-speaking community. The current political atmosphere in New York threatens the existence of a unique Russian-speaking community!

Five months have passed since the election of the President of the United States and new members of Congress, and the controversy and debate around them has not subsided to this day. Nevertheless, time flies quickly, and new elections are coming soon, this time local. Primary or internal party, which will take place on June 22, the first Tuesday in November. Surely after last year's events, which divided the country into two irreconcilable camps, many local “showdowns” will not arouse much interest. “After all, in November 2020, it was decided which path the country would take, and the fate of the entire world community is largely determined in the White House,” they will say, “and how can those elections be compared in importance with the elections of the mayor of New York and the City Council? " But they will be wrong in many ways. Decisions made in Washington, other than those related to the process of vaccination of the population, do not have a big impact on our life, and their consequences will affect the future and will become the subject of discussions for historians, political scientists and economists of the next generations. But decisions made at the local level will immediately affect the quality of life of our Russian-speaking community, our safety, and the education of our children. And as it became clear to you, every election separates us, and if we put feelings and ambitions aside, we need to unite in order to save the Russian-speaking community and not waste time.
Living in an orphanage for 15 years taught me a lot, including understanding the importance of political and economic unification. By uniting, we will achieve more. Unification will save the Russian-speaking community and it doesn't matter if we were born in Moscow, Baku, Odessa or Kharkov. We are a strong, unique, educated community. No one saw, before the arrival of Russians in America, such shops, Russian newspapers, musicians, artists, but now Brighton and the Russian-speaking community have changed dramatically. We need to go back to when we demanded from the politicians what we need. If we do not demand from our servants of the people to defend our interests, we will be lost. We need to preserve Brighton and our culture. Over the past 20 years, the Russian-speaking community has become divided. We need to save our culture, we need to return Russian concerts, theaters, exhibitions, Russian press, Russian business ...
For example, for many Russian
speaking families will become key questions whether to stay in New York or move to another state. Last 13 months 1912
Russian-speaking families left New York for Florida, Pennsylvania, New Jersey. This trend will continue if we do not take the necessary and difficult measures to change our political position. We MUST become politically ACTIVE! We do not have much influence at the national level, but at the local level - we are strong! Local elections carry much more weight than national elections!
Now someone must fight for Brighton. If we and our chosen ones do not stand up to the city, we will no longer be able to live as before. Political and economic forces must support each other. In our state, two political parties are doing everything possible to weaken the influence of the Russian-speaking community! They select candidates for local elections who will show no interest in promoting the Russian-speaking community.
Charitable organizations Odessa Community of New York, New York Association of Ghetto and Concentration Camp Prisoners, Holocaust Survivors Charity, etc., the Russian-speaking press should receive grants for further charitable activities for the benefit of the Russian-speaking community. Politicians from both sides divided the community, and this plays into the hands of politicians, not the community. If Russian-speaking residents do not stop this and unite, then the Russian-speaking community will leave, and we will lose the uniqueness that existed from the first to the last wave of Russian-speaking immigration, which made our community unique. An educated, intelligent, cultured community will disappear. Who should unite the Russian-speaking community? This should be decided by the community itself.

Interview with Angela Pink
recorded by Marina Lagunova