Ukrainian Heritage in New York City

New York City is home to one of the largest Ukrainian ethnic communities in North America. Ukrainians have lived in the robust and ever-changing area known as "Little Ukraine" in the East Village neighborhood of New York City since the 1870s. Nearly 1/3 of New York City's 80,000 Ukrainians reside in the area bound by Houston and 14th Streets, and Third Avenue and Avenue A. 

I am part Ukrainian through my maternal grandparents who emigrated to this country from Ukraine in the early 1900s.  Although my grandparents had settled in Pennsylvania,  I'm always fascinated to visit this area in the East Village to learn more about my cultural heritage.

photo source

Saint George Ukrainian Catholic Church located at 30 East 7th Street, New York, NY moved to its present location in 1911 from its original location on East 20th Street and First Avenue.  It is recognized as a nucleus of all Ukrainian churches in the New York area. In 1978, St. George's parish built the new church structure that you see in the photo above, in a classical Ukrainian Byzantine style of architecture.

In 1940 the parish established an elementary school, and subsequently a high school, which was accredited by the State of New York. It offers the Ukrainian language as part of the curriculum.

Information from St. George's website: "The portico of the church has a mosaic of Christ circumscribed with the words: 'Come to me all of you who labor and carry heavy burdens and I will give you rest.' The mural includes Ukrainians in native costume. In the background is an image of St. George Cathedral in Lviv, Ukraine, and the historical Kievan St. Sophia Cathedral (Kyiv, Ukraine). Directly above the doorway of the inner entrance is a mosaic of the church's patron saint George slaying the dragon symbolizing the constant struggle between good and evil."

Across the street was Surma "The Ukrainian Shop" ( now closed)

Their motto was "Come into Surma and spend some time in the old country."  

Shall we go in?

Inside the cozy store, there is a wonderful inventory of handcrafted Ukrainian goods. Here we see hand-woven kilims, embroidered folk blouses and tunics, and brocaded ribbons and trims. 

This display case held colorful hand-painted Matryoshka nesting dolls of all sizes.

This showcase contained a large assortment of handmade, and commercially made, Pysanky, which are traditional Ukrainian Easter Eggs.

Surma also sells the wax, dyes, and other supplies needed to craft your own Pransky.

They have a large selection of Ukrainian porcelains and ceramics......

......and hand-painted icons and authentic Ukrainian wood crafts.

Surma also sells English and Ukrainian language books about Ukrainian history, culture, holidays and traditions, and dictionaries.  Plus they have selections of popular and classical music from the Ukraine and greeting cards. Visiting Surma was certainly like taking a trip back to see the folk crafts of Ukraine, and the friendly staff was very pleasant and helpful. 

On my next visit to the area, I hope to visit  The Ukrainian Museum located at 222 East 6th Street, between 2nd and 3rd Aves., so that I can show some of its exhibits on my blog. The museum opened a new building in 2005, and its holdings of Ukrainian folk art and fine art collections include one of the most important documented collections outside of Ukraine! 

 EDITED IN JULY 2023 --The Ukrainian store sadly closed after 98 years!  As this article stated: "The reality is that the East Village neighborhood – known affectionately as “Little Ukraine” – has seen an increase in the closing of Ukrainian-owned shops, from the Kyiv Restaurant (founded in the 1970s and closed in 2000) to Kurowycky’s Meat Market in 2007 (after 52 years in business). Surma is simply the latest casualty in the changing landscape of New York’s neighborhoods."