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Coney Island And Brighton Beach: So Hot Right Now
By
Garth Johnston
Published Jul 26, 2011
Modified Jul 26, 2011
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By
Garth Johnston
Published Jul 26, 2011
Modified Jul 26, 2011
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The rest of the city may be recovering from the recession slowly, but not Coney Island and Brighton Beach. No sir. State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has released an economic snapshot of the two Brooklyn neighborhoods and—just in time for the reality show—things are looking good. After a long absence tourists are pouring onto the Coney Island boardwalk, employment has made up most of the job losses from the recession and since 2006 the population of the neighborhood has grown a whopping 7.1 percent (as opposed to Brooklyn and the city overall which have gone up 2.3 percent and 2.2 percent respectively).
"Brighton Beach and the overall Greater Coney Island area is a true reflection of what New York City is all about," Councilman Michael Nelson said in response to the report. "With a population representing over 50 countries, the Brighton Beach and Coney Island communities are truly a microcosm of diversity." Which is sort of true. Yes, the area has immigrants galore (nearly half of the population is foreign born) but almost half of those immigrants (46.4 percent) come from Ukraine and Russia. There is a reason people call Brighton Little Odessa!
Meanwhile, the report (which you can peruse below) also paints a glowing portrait of how the city's economic development plans have boosted the area, arguing that the Luna Park and Scream Zone have dramatically increased the appeal of the area for visitors. Last year 12.8 million people came to the beaches of Coney Island—three times the number who visited in 2009.
Anyway, all this talk has us hungry from some Uighur fare or maybe some over-the-top Russian seafood. Dinner at Brighton Beach?
Tagged
brighton beach
brooklyn
coney island
luna park
Garth Johnston
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