The Big Yapko

By Walter Kish

I spent most of the past week in New York City, or “The Big Apple” as it is more familiarly known.  My eldest daughter Zenia is doing her PhD studies there at New York University, and being the Thanksgiving Holiday break, my wife and I decided it was an opportune time to get reacquainted with both our daughter and the city we hadn’t really seen in many years.

It proved to be a wonderful experience on many levels.  The past decade has seen significant improvement and rejuvenation of this iconic metropolis.  It is noticeably cleaner and safer than it was back in the eighties and early nineties when it was representative of many large American cities succumbing to urban decay and increasing lawlessness.  The streets are now mostly litter-free, graffiti has disappeared, and the thirty-six thousand strong New York City police force has made a huge dent in both petty and serious crime.  Once decaying neighbourhoods in Manhattan are showing new life as they are gentrified and refurbished by a new generation of affluent professionals who continue to flock into the financial capitol of the world.  The shops, restaurants and bars of SoHo, Greenwich Village, Tribeca, Chelsea and other interesting and eclectic communities are thriving and reflect the chic, wealth and self confidence of its residents.

Of course there are Ukrainians in New York, though nowhere near as many as in Toronto, and as I have found out, pinpointing exactly how many is problematic.  Official census statistics from the nineties claim somewhere between ten to twenty thousand in New York City itself, though large numbers are also to be found on the mainland New Jersey shores and surrounding towns, cities and boroughs.  Ukrainian sources give an estimate of some eighty thousand Ukrainians in the New York area. There has also been a large influx of immigrants from Ukraine since it became independent, though most of these have turned out to be primarily ethnic Russians or Russified Ukrainians who have wound up settling in large numbers in the Brighton Beach area of Brooklyn, more commonly known as “Little Odessa”.

The oldest “Ukrainian” neighbourhood in New York, settled originally by first,  second and third wave Ukrainian immigrants, is located on the Lower East Side of Manhattan bounded by Houston and 14^th Streets and 3^rd Avenue and Avenue A.  Many Ukrainians still live here, though over the generations many more have moved out to the suburbs and more affluent areas of New York. This area is comparable to what used to be the original Ukrainian community in Toronto centred around Queen and Bathurst Streets. 

A stroll through the area demonstrated many elements of Ukrainian life and community.  The “Samopomich” Ukrainian Credit Union at 108 2^nd Avenue is the financial cornerstone of the area.  Just up the street is the Ukrainian National Home which also houses a Ukrainian restaurant.  A few doors down is the popular Veselka Restaurant whose varenyky, borshcht, and other hearty staples of Ukrainian cuisine draw crowds of New Yorkers at all times of the day and night.  On the same block you will find the Ukrainian Sports Club and the local Plast office. On the other side of 2^nd Avenue, a visit to J. Baczynsky’s East Village Meat Market will surround you with the potent aromas of smoked kobassa and freshly baked rye bread.

On 7^th Street is the centre of the Ukrainian community, St. George Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.  One street down on 6^th Street is the new Ukrainian Museum which opened in 2005, replacing and older one founded in 1976 on 2^nd Avenue.  This marvellous modern structure houses an extensive collection of both contemporary and traditional Ukrainian Art and artifacts.  During our visit, we were particularly entranced by an exhibit of modern Ukrainian Art as well as an extensive photo exhibit on the UPA or Ukrainian Insurgent Army.