Nobody puts Brooklyn in a corner.
The heyday of the Jewish Catskills may have come and gone, but this summer, New Yorkers have the chance to party Borscht Belt-style — without time-traveling or enduring a long, traffic-y drive on Route 17.
On Tuesday, June 17, The Neighborhood: An Urban Center for Jewish Life, is bringing the spirit of the Borscht Belt to Brooklyn with “Catskills, BK: Dirtier Dancing,” a rooftop party at the Moxy Hotel in Williamsburg.
The evening — which is partially inspired by “Dirty Dancing,” the 1987 hit film that takes place at Kellerman’s, a fictional Borscht Belt resort, in the summer of 1963 — will feature live klezmer and swing music played by a big band led by clarinetist Michael Winograd, DJ sets, a “make-your-own egg cream station” from the Brooklyn Seltzer Museum and a drag show.
There will also be “thematic” cocktails and food — think latkes, bagels and the like — from Chef Eli Buliskeria, who’s the executive chef at the Moxy Williamsburg (which is also home to Mesiba, the Israeli restaurant that lives up to its name, which means “party” in Hebrew).
“We wanted to really think about something that felt like summer, and Jewish, and the Borscht Belt is that, right?” said Rebecca Guber, the founding director of the Neighborhood, about the origins of the event. “We’re harkening back to a certain nostalgia, but also trying to make it feel part of Brooklyn. And then bringing in a movie [“Dirty Dancing”] that we feel really embodies that time and is still fresh and funny and awesome.”
Guber’s love of the Jewish Catskills is an authentic one — she and her family summer at Rosmarin’s Bungalow Colony, which is one of the region’s last remaining bungalow colonies geared toward secular Jews. “I feel extremely close to this community,” she said.
Roughly 90 miles north of New York City, New York’s Catskill Mountains became an extremely popular vacation destination for Jewish families in the mid-20th century. In its prime, the Catskills boasted some 500 hotels and resorts that catered to mostly Jewish New Yorkers fleeing the hot and crowded city.
The Borscht Belt, as the region came to be known, was famous for its generous servings of American and Ashkenazi-inspired fare, as well for its legendary entertainment, helping launch the careers of legends like Mel Brooks, Sid Caesar, Danny Kaye and Joan Rivers.
As such, Tuesday’s party — which is presented in partnership with FLAMINGGG, which creates “intentionally Jewish nightlife experience for queer adult Jews,” the Borscht Belt Museum and the Brooklyn Seltzer Museum — will include entertainment, too.
There will be games of the sorts that were played at Borscht Belt resorts — think “Simon Says” and conga lines — a vintage photo booth, and dancers who will recreate “key scenes” from “Dirty Dancing,” Gruber said.
“In the Borscht Belt era, Jews weren’t the only ones who needed a place to go and weren’t allowed in mainstream vacation [spots],” Gruber said. “The Catskills were home to other marginalized groups as well, including Black and Cuban and Puerto Rican communities … In a certain way, I think that is showing the allyship that was happening then, and now.”
Gruber added that organizers were “especially inspired” by Casa Susanna, a 1960s destination in the Catskills’ Greene County for cross-dressing men and transgender women. Being Pride Month, partygoers can expect a “queer twist” on some “Dirty Dancing”-inspired activities.
As with many events hosted by the Neighborhood, Guber expects “a really multi-generational crowd” at the party, and is optimistic that the “welcomingness” of the Borscht Belt will translate to a Williamsburg rooftop.
Will you have “the time of your life”? There’s only one way to find out!
Tickets to “Catskills, BK: Dirtier Dancing” at the Moxy Williamsburg (353 Bedford Ave.) start at $50 and include entertainment, nosh and one drink. Click here for tickets and more information.
The New York Jewish Week brings you the stories behind the headlines, keeping you connected to Jewish life in New York. Help sustain the reporting you trust by donating today.
