Now that we've seen a glimpse of Lifetime's reality show about the Russian community in Brighton Beach, Russian Dolls, featuring "guys wearing Adidas pants, leather jackets and gold chains" and "a lot of hot, decked-out Russian girls" (plus some of their in-laws!), what do actual Russians in Brighton Beach think? Um, how about a community liaison's slam saying "they don’t speak this dirty language and they hate vodka." more ›

You may be fist-pumping in excitement over the upcoming return of Jersey Shore, but will you be saying da or nyet to Russian Dolls? Russian Dolls is Lifetime's new reality show about Russian women (and men) living in Brooklyn. Sheepshead Bites got a hold of the trailer, and it does seem to live up to the producer's promise, "There will be plenty of vodka, techno music and guys wearing Adidas pants, leather jackets and gold chains, and driving souped-up cars. There will also be a lot of hot, decked-out Russian girls." Added bonus: Cocktail weiners in puff pastry! more ›

Welcome back to another installment of Ethnic Eating Adventures, in which we travel far and wide to discover the hidden culinary delights of New York City. Today, we're heading to Brighton Beach for some over-the-top Russian seafood at Gambrinus. more ›

At first it looked like Russian emigre Eugene Perchikov committed the perfect murder, twice. Right out of an old school playbook, Perchikov would, allegedly, seduce women into getting multiple life insurance policies with him as the beneficiary and then kill them using a poison, norepinephrine, that wouldn't show up in tissue tests (he had medical training). It worked as planned, until a pesky lawyer for the estate of his first victim, Larysa Vasserman, noticed that Perchikov's playbook was actually cribbed from a story he had written himself in a self-published volume under the penname Eugene Pepperou. more ›

Forget this being the summer of sharks—it's the summer of Russians behaving badly! First, it was a cadre of "deep cover spies," including a NYC party girl. Now it's a cosmetology student who was trying to smuggle night vision scopes back to Mother Russia. Anna Fermanova, who lives in Texas now, was stopped at JFK Airport back in March because, according to the Smoking Gun, "The weapons sights cannot be exported without approval from the Department of State since the items are considered munitions covered by the Arms Export Control Act." more ›

Brooklyn's Little Odessa might host a Jersey Shore-style TV program documenting the drunken exploits of young Russian-Americans. Show creator Elina Miller told Sheepshead Bites that her program won't accentuate Russian stereotypes: "While some of the stereotypes may have merit, I'm trying to show that [the community is] a lot more complex." A casting website put out this call: "Are you the Russian Snooki or The Situation? Are you a super outgoing and fun-loving Russian-American that sometimes sneaks kalbaska, pel'meni and vodka from the fridge? Can people hear the Euro/Techno/Russian music blasting from your car before they see you pull up? ... The cameras will roll as you do what you do best—eat, drink and PARTY." more ›

Cops want your help finding a bald man who may have been involved in the killing of former Brighton Bazaar owner Vladimir Tolstykh last year. In March two hooded thugs beat the purveyor of salty salads and blini to death, stealing thousands of dollars and Russian candy, says the Daily News. His widow Rita, who’s taken over the Brighton Beach grocery, thinks it was an inside job. "Somebody knew the whole schedule—how it worked, what time he came in," she said. Now police have released surveillance footage of another man fleeing the scene and are offering a reward of $32,000 for tips leading to his arrest. Take a crack at it: call (800) 577-TIPS or report online. Video after the jump. more ›

A federal judge has issued a $6.8 million judgment against a Russian immigrant suspected of murdering two lonely NY women for their insurance money. In both cases he may have killed them using an undetectable fatal drug, a technique he described in a self-published work of fiction. more ›

So let’s get this right. If you're a Moscow mogul looking to buy the New Jersey Nets and move them to Brooklyn, you don’t have to do any of the legwork that comes with finding an apartment in the bustling borough? more ›

The Post gets one of their juicy "sources" to dish on Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz's reaction to the idea of a Russian-owned Nyets team. Markowitz, a big Atlantic Yards booster throughout the controversy and delays, is feeling a little burned at this point, according to "one operative": "It's a combination of anger and embarrassment. He signed on to a magnificent Frank Gehry-designed Brooklyn palace in the sky, and now he's got a foreign-owned big hole in the ground." But fuggedaboutit; it's still the best hole in the best borough of New York! more ›

On the heels of Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov's blog confirmation of rumors that he'll help finance the Bruce Ratner's embattled Nets stadium, Forest City Ratner has issued a statement detailing the "strategic partnership for the development of the Atlantic Yards Project." According to the press release, "entities to be formed by Prokhorov's Onexim Group will invest $200 million and make certain contingent funding commitments to acquire 45% of the arena project and 80% of the NBA team." The tentative $200 million deal would also involve Prokhorov taking on some of the team’s debts and reducing Ratner’s 23 percent stake. more ›

Wednesday night a few Russian women were ticketed $250 a piece for swimming past 6 p.m. at Brighton Beach. The Parks security allegedly threatened to jail them and check up on their immigration statuses. While the Parks Dept. told us that "New York State law does not allow you to swim at your own risk," the swimmers (and eyewitnesses) say that the lifeguards never alerted them that the beach was closing, and simply clocked out without getting anyone out of the water. more ›

That NYC cab driver turned billionaire has pleaded guilty to charges that he violated the Endangered Species Act by attempting to import 29 rare dead animals into the US aboard his yacht. You may recall Tamir Sapir as the Georgian man who rose from immigrant hack to Russian oil and real estate tycoon, ultimately buying the city's most expensive townhouse across from the Metropolitan Museum for $40 million in 2006. But Florida Customs officers who peered inside his yacht in 2007 know him better as a dealer in dead endangered wildlife. more ›

They've tried vertical cameras and even lasers but nothing beats a Russian immigrant when when it comes to counting bodies Times Square, according to this fun article in the Times, which tells you all you never wanted to know about counting crowds at the crossroads of the world. It's almost exclusively Russian immigrants who get paid $8 an hour to stand around and count. An engineer who oversees the process explains that the Times Square Alliance—which spends up to $100,000 a year for the data—formerly employed Nigerians, but "at some point we switched over to these Russians." And most of them are overqualified. 66-year-old Alexander Turin, a former French literature professor who left Russia in 1976, says he counts because "sometimes you just need to do the simplest jobs." So thanks to Turin and his comrades, we know that half a million people recently passed through Times Square in a single day. more ›

State senator Carl Kruger, an outspoken critic of Mayor Bloomberg’s plans for Coney Island, is now accusing the city of “extorting” $68,000 from the owner of Tatiana Restaurant and Nightclub, a popular Russian nightspot on the Brighton Beach boardwalk. Tatiana Varzar lost her restaurant in a massive fire in 2003 that authorities believe was caused by homeless people living under the boardwalk. more ›