Tens of thousands of visitors are expected to descend on Brighton Beach this Sunday for the annual Brighton Jubilee, a vibrant celebration of diversity.
Founded 48 years ago by Pat Singer of the Brighton Neighborhood Association, the festival was a push to bring the neighborhood on the map.
“Brighton Beach has become like a world population,” she told Brooklyn reporter Hannah Kliger. “This is a nice place to make your life and sit down your roots here. And that’s why I fought, ’cause I wanted to stay here.”
Brooklyn organizations supporting senior population
Brighton Beach is home to one of New York City’s largest senior enclaves, supported year-round by a web of community programs.
At the Shorefront JCC, weekly activities include a dance party, karaoke and bingo for Holocaust survivors. For 83-year-old Meir Kadosh, a survivor from France, it’s a welcome ritual.
“The ambiance is very high, and we sing and we talk to each other. I tell my story to some people,” Kadosh said.
The center also operates a kosher and halal food pantry almost daily, sustained by volunteers like retired nurse Sofia Grodski.
“The whole purpose of my life and my profession has been to help people, when they become elderly or weak. When I help them, feed them, I’m happy,” she said in an interview translated from Russian.
Community Board 13 reports that more than 23% of Brighton Beach residents are senior citizens, the highest concentration in the city, making the neighborhood what experts call a “naturally occurring retirement community.” Many are also immigrants.
“All of our staff here and most of our volunteers are bilingual, sometimes multilingual, because a lot of these people have had issues getting assistance elsewhere because of the language barrier,” said Savannah Eklund, a case worker at the Shorefront JCC.
Zehava Birman Wallace of the Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island said affordability has drawn many older residents to the neighborhood, as well.
“There’s Section Eight housing, there’s NYCHA housing, et cetera. Those are opportunities for people that have low income to be able to access housing. And it’s also by the water,” Wallace said.
See CBS News New York at the Brighton Jubilee Festival
Singer says her organization works year-round with the local senior community.
She says when she began her community work in 1977, Brighton was already known to be an aging community.
“It started out as a grassroots movement by neighbors,” Singer said.
The crown jewel of her work is the Brighton Jubilee, now an enduring summer tradition.
Nearly half a century later, it remains a centerpiece of the neighborhood, a celebration of both cultural diversity and community resilience.
CBS News New York is a proud media partner of the Brighton Jubilee Festival for the second year in a row. We’ll be setting up a pop-up newsroom along Brighton Beach Avenue on Sunday, Aug. 24. Be sure to stop by and say hello!
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