Last week we wrote about an elderly Brighton Beach couple whose heating still wasn’t repaired months after the events of Superstorm Sandy. Given a free electric space heater by the city, the Gertsmans of 601 Brightwater Court, saw their electricity bill soar, a cost they were unable to cover themselves. Having heard their plight on 1010 WINS, a listener stepped up and covered the Gertsmans’ electric bill, according to a report by CBS NY.
The radio listener who donated the money to the Gertsmans was New Jersey resident Diane Edwards.
“It feels great to meet him, it really is a pleasure,” Edwards told 1010 WINS reporter Carol D’Auria.
The Gertsmans also expressed gratitude for Edwards’s generous gift.
“Americans are accustomed to do good, and in the future Russians will know about charity as well as Americans,” he told 1010 WINS through an interpreter.
While the Gertsmans found some relief, their neighbors, unfortunately, did not.
According to Yelena Makhnin, executive director of the Brighton Beach Business Improvement District, the local relief center at the Shorefront Y distributed 3,500 electric heaters to Sandy victims. Even more were distributed in Coney Island, Sheepshead Bay, Gerritsen Beach and others. Many residents, desperate to fend off the winter chill while their boilers awaited replacement, turned to the devices despite the high price tag, and that fueled higher bills across the neighborhood.
“It’s a problem for thousands of people,” Makhnin told Sheepshead Bites. “There are many people on fixed incomes, and whose houses and apartments got damaged and they have to pay a lot of money to fix them, and in this situation, each and every penny counts.
Chaim Deutsch, an aide to Councilman Michael Nelson, led the charge to bring attention to the issue using the Gertsmans as a prime illustration. But now that the Gertsmans’ needs have been filled, they hope that others remain aware of the high costs of electric heating.
“It’s a community issue that people used the electric heaters, so it was something to bring out that when you use electric as opposed to gas, the price goes up,” said Deutsch. “It was a game of survival during Hurricane Sandy, and you had to make sure that everyone’s safe and you stay warm.”
Brighton Beach was hit as hard as any other coastal community ravaged by Superstorm Sandy and local residents are still feeling the effects of its destruction in the form of expensive electric bills, according to a report by CBS NY.
Since Sandy came ashore late last October, amazingly, many residents of Brighton Beach, Sheepshead Bay and elsewhere are still without heat. To stay warm in these harsh winter months, people have substituted working heat with electric space heaters, many of which were given out by Red Cross, FEMA and other disaster support groups.
As a consequence, their electric bills have skyrocketed, punishing the pocket books of people just trying to stay warm.
CBS NY tracked the plight of the residents of 601 Brightwater Court. After Sandy, the heat was knocked out of the building and the city distributed electric space heaters to keep elderly couples like Pavel Gertsman and his wife warm.
While the heaters were welcome, the increased electric bills topping out at an extra $150 a month, were not. Their plight was relayed through Brighton Beach Business Improvement District Executive Director Yelena Makhnin:
“They’re on a fixed income with $1,100 family, and the difference in $150, it makes those people choose between food and Con Edison bills,” Makhnin said.
She said the Gertsmans have health problems and cannot afford the huge bill.
Con Ed spokesman Bob McGee said the utility is forbidden by law from reducing the Gertsman’s bill.
For his part, McGee suggested that people unable to pay their bills as a result of Sandy could try reaching out to non-profit organizations like the Red Cross.
Other options include contacting the city’s Human Resources Administration, which has federally funded home energy assistance programs. You can visit their website by clicking the link above or call them at (800) 692-0557.
Brighton Beach didn’t just flood with water, like Sheepshead Bay. The beach turned to mud, and came chest high on Brighton Beach Avenue.
In our mission to get out as much useful, actionable information out there about Hurricane Sandy and the recovery efforts, we haven’t had much time to check out how our neighbors in Brighton Beach are doing. So we checked in with Brighton Beach Business Improvement District Executive Directory Yelena Makhnin for an update on Tuesday.
DOT and Department of Sanitation had to plow the roads several times after Sandy, as the beach poured onto the main avenues.
Like the rest of us, Brighton Beach is plodding forward with recovery efforts, and, though Brighton Beach Avenue’s businesses were under as much as five feet of mud and water, some are getting back up to speed.
“Each and every store got some portion of damage. A lot of water. I don’t even know of one business without losses,” Makhnin said.
Still, about 40 percent of the businesses have opened up, and others are offering limited service.
Power remains an issue. Huge swaths of Brighton Beach – including chunks of Brighton Beach Avenue – remain without electricity. And though some sections were hardly touched – such as the stretch between Brighton 5th Street and Brighton 6th Street, where storefronts have no basements to worry about – the lack of power has crippled businesses that could otherwise be up and running.
“Half of the block does not have power,” Makhnin said. “The side of the block close to Brighton Beach is functioning very well. The restaurant is open, the cell phone store is open. The other side is dark.”
Vendors in Brighton Beach have brought complaints from area merchants.
A press release issued this morning by Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz claims Brighton Beach business owners are demanding an investigation of the executive director of the neighborhood’s business improvement district (BID), but the director said the attacks are because she remains friends with the assemblyman’s opponent in tomorrow’s primary.
According to the release, three area business owners and a real estate broker met with the commissioner of New York City’s Small Business Services, which oversees BIDs across the city, and told him that Brighton BID Executive Director Yelena Makhnin has allowed the organization to become stagnant, and demanded an investigation of her activities. The meeting was organized by Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz.
Cymbrowitz’s office said that the businesses say Makhnin repeatedly rejected proposals to improve the district, including rejoining the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, increasing garbage pickups and the number of receptacles, removing illegal vendors from storefronts and producing brochures and other materials about Brighton Beach.
“Store owners on Brighton Beach Avenue look at similar shopping areas in other neighborhoods, see joint efforts being undertaken to attract shoppers and diners, and ask, ‘Why not us? Why can’t we do these things?’” Assemblyman Cymbrowitz said in the release. “The merchants complain the avenue has stagnated with no new district-wide marketing initiatives in more than five years.”
Business leaders at the meeting included Natalia Orlova, owner of St. Petersburg Book Store, Tatiana Varzar, owner of Tatiana Restaurant, real estate broker Felix Filler, and Alex Fraiman, owner of Glavs Travel Agency.
The release also noted, “Merchants believe Makhnin may be working on political campaigns on city time and want [Small Business Services Commissioner Robert] Walsh and the inspector general to investigate.”
However, Makhnin said she’s been doing her job well, and that attacks are politically motivated due to her longtime friendship with Cymbrowitz’s opponent in tomorrow’s Democratic primary, Ben Akselrod.
“It’s only political,” Makhnin told Sheepshead Bites. “He’s using the commissioner of the Department of Small Business Services as the ax against Yelena Makhnin.”
The Be Proud Foundation, working in conjunction with the Brighton Beach Business Improvement District (BID) will hold a “Community Awareness Meeting,” May 24 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at Tzar Restaurant, 2007 Emmons Avenue.
New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers from 1 Police Plaza; the 60th, 61st, 62nd and 70th Police Precincts, as well as the NYPD Community Affairs Bureau Immigrant Outreach Unit and NYPD Crime Prevention and Community Affairs program will answer sensitive questions from members of the community and representatives from businesses.
According to Raisa Chernina, president and founder of the Be Proud Foundation, “It is very important that every resident of our area have a close contact and mutual trust with police representatives. I also believe that our first ever Community Meeting will lead to building an effective communication bridge between community and NYPD.”
Light refreshments will be served and space is extremely limited — you must RSVP by to Sam Khalitov by calling (718) 788-7773.
Oceana Hall, a Brighton Beach venue whose late-night events have spurred complaints from neighbors, has been illegally hosting parties without a cabaret license, Sheepshead Bites has learned.
The Department of Consumer Affairs – which issues cabaret licenses – has confirmed that it does not have a license on record for the venue’s listed address at 1029 Brighton Beach Avenue. According the department’s website:
Any room, place, or space in New York City in which patron dancing is permitted in connection with the restaurant business or a business that sells food and/or beverages to the public requires a Cabaret license.
When we called Oceana Hall for comment, the person in charge of booking, who gave her name only as Jamie, at first said they did not need a cabaret license because they have a catering license, which allows them to host private parties.
She added that parties like their upcoming March Madness or this past week’s Presidents Weekend Shut Down were private and usually booked as benefits for schools or fraternities. When we asked which schools or organizations benefited from the Presidents weekend party that ended with violence, she said she would have to check her records.
She did not answer any further phone calls from Sheepshead Bites.
Videos like this show packed parties with drinking and dancing at Oceana Hall.
The city, however, has a different take on what constitutes a public party versus a private party.
Though the parties may have been booked as private, the promoters were selling tickets to the general public – which makes it public. And there are plenty of recent videos online that show concerts and parties at Oceana Hall with drinking and dancing involved.
According to a Department of Consumer Affairs press officer, the department’s legal team believes this qualifies Oceana Hall as a venue in need of a cabaret license.
“If the event is open to the public, regardless of whether a third party promoter is involved, a cabaret license is required,” the press officer told Sheepshead Bites.
Licenses are a matter of both safety and community concern. To get one, the city inspects the facility to ensure it meets fire and electrical codes, and the establishment must also be reviewed by the local Community Board, in theory to ensure it isn’t a nuisance to neighbors. (*CORRECTED)
But a nuisance is an apt description for Oceana Hall, according to neighbors. Last weekend, attendees turned to violence as they poured into the street at closing time, with a gunman opening fire and striking two women.
It’s an extreme example, but residents and community leaders said they knew it was a matter of time before things got out of hand.
Yelena Makhnin, executive director of the Brighton Beach Business Improvement District, said that things have been getting worse at the club over the past year, with more complaints to her office from neighboring residents and businesses. They say the parties break up late at night, and attendees hit the streets making noise and raising a ruckus.
“I understand it’s a business and people need to make money, but the people who live on Brighton 11th and Brighton 12th cannot be victims of people making money,” Makhnin said. ”I strongly believe if they want to have parties, fine, but they have to obey the laws.”
Councilman Michael Nelson’s office and Community Board 13 has also been fielding complaints about the venue.
“I get phone calls from the Oceana buildings [across the street] about noise, and that they’re having a cabaret at night and have screaming and fighting and disturbing life,” said a staffer at Nelson’s office.
The councilman’s office is helping coordinate with Community Board 13 and the 60th Precinct to meet with the business and ease the problem.
The NYPD is responsible for enforcing cabaret laws, but while the 60th Precinct has spoken to the owners and even issued summonses on other matters, they have not issued any violations for their missing license.
A Community Affairs officer declined to comment on the matter, but Makhnin said that the local precinct has been doing a good job responding to complaints at the venue and is trying to be balanced in their approach.
“It’s a very grey area,” Makhnin said. “When the city is trying to enforce a law, right away they’re blamed for making it difficult for small business owners.”
CORRECTION (4:51 p.m.): The original version of this article stated that the establishment needed approval from the Community Board to obtain a cabaret license. In fact, they only need to be reviewed. The Department of Consumer Affairs can and does issue cabaret licenses to businesses that have been rejected by the Community Board.
A Brighton Beach business leader has had it with legal and illegal vendors competing with brick-and-mortar stores with higher overhead, but attempts to keep them under control is made more difficult by the medley of city agencies tasked with overseeing them.
Community Board 15 Chairperson Theresa Scavo asks Mayor Michael Bloomberg a question about road repair.
The Brighton Beach Business Improvement District hosted an unprecedented visit by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and top brass from nearly two dozen city agencies on Thursday, marking a stride forward in the relationship between the government and New York City’s Russian-American business owners.
Approximately 200 business owners, activists and local politicians packed into National Restaurant (273 Brighton Beach Avenue) during the evening powwow, as Mayor Bloomberg addressed the gathering and – along with commissioners from city agencies including the NYPD, Small Business Services, Department of Education and Department of Traffic – answered a broad range of questions and concerns.
“Small business owners have to jump from one hoop to another to get everything they need from city agencies,” said Brighton Beach BID’s executive director, Yelena Makhnin, who organized the event. “I believe this visit is part of the initiative to reach out to Russian-speaking business owners.”
Now that we’ve got our first real glimpse of Russian Dolls, the new Brighton Beach-based reality show to air on Lifetime, it was just a matter of time until the reviews came in from Russian leaders. After we published the video on Friday, Ari Kagan – whose credentials in the Russian-speaking community include a journalism career, a one-time candidacy for the State Assembly, being the current liaison to the Russian-speaking community for Comptroller Liu, and a rumored contender for Michael Nelson’s City Council seat – sent us the following note condemning the show:
There is no question in my mind that the Russian Dolls series will depict the Russian-speaking community in a distorted way, as a caricature, as a joke. Lifetime does not care about the thousands of great, beautiful, funny, smart and hard-working young Russian speaking women who attend colleges and universities, make money as paralegals, librarians, nurses, journalists and computer specialists. They are great daughters, sisters, wives and mothers. They don’t spend most of their time in nightclubs, bars or lounges. They don’t speak this dirty language and they hate vodka.
Of course, we do have our own bad apples, low lives and criminals, but they constitute a minority in the Russian speaking community. Lifetime wants to create a lot of fun and entertainment by throwing the reputation of Russian-speaking New Yorkers under the bus.
It looks like Kagan is throwing his lot in with John Lisyanskiy, who condemned the show’s title as synonymous with prostitution, and who authored a letter to Lifetime expressing concerns that the channel will be “reducing would-be contestants to vodka-drinking ethnic caricatures who ‘love attention’ and do little more than ‘eat, drink and party.’” Lisyanskiy is the founder of the Russian-Speaking American Leadership Caucus, and the letter was co-signed by 42 elected politicians and Russian-speaking activists.
We have a feeling, as the show gets closer to its August 11 premiere, Kagan won’t be the last voice we hear from.
Sheepshead Bites has snagged the first publicly-available look at Russian Dolls, the new Brighton Beach-based reality show that will air on Lifetime on August 11 at 10:30 p.m.
Lifetime says the show, which had the working title Brighton Beach, provides a “rare and entertaining look at Brighton Beach’s colorful multi-generational families whose dramas and dreams contend with their Russian heritage while living in this famous, alluring, vibrant and highly protective community.”
We’ve been asked not to give too many details about the show away – and, yes, we’ve seen full character bios and episode synopses – but we will tell you that it focuses on eight local Russian-Americans.
Now that we’ve got our
