If you’re heading to New York this summer (like I am this week), I’ve highlighted some noteable Ukrainian areas in and around the state to see in your travels:
Ukrainian Museum
222 East 6th Street
New York, NY 10003-8201, United States
(212) 228-0110The Ukrainian Museum is the largest museum in the U.S. committed to acquiring, preserving, exhibiting, and interpreting articles of artistic or historic significance to the rich cultural heritage of Ukrainians. It was founded in 1976 by the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America (UNWLA). Each year, the Museum organizes several exhibitions, publishes accompanying bilingual catalogues, and conducts a wide range of public programming, frequently in collaboration with other museums, educational institutions, and cultural centers.
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The Museum’s archives boast more than 30,000 items — photographs, documents, the personal correspondence of noted individuals, playbills, posters, flyers, and the like, all documenting the life, history, and cultural legacy of the Ukrainian people. The history of Ukrainian immigration to the United States, which dates back well over 100 years, is chronicled in the Museum’s rich collection of archival photographs.
One of the latest exhibitions being showcased is Ukraine–Sweden: At the Crossroads of History (17th-18th Centuries). The exhibition explores a pivotal period of European history through the prism of the alliance between Sweden, then a preeminent European power, and Ukraine whose Cossack leaders (Hetmans) were striving to establish an independent state.
Veselka Restaurant
144 2nd Avenue
New York, NY 10003-8305, United States
(212) 228-9682Veselka is a 24-hour restaurant in New York City’s East Village. It was established in 1954 by post-World War II Ukrainian refugees Wolodymyr and Olha Darmochawal and is one of the last of the many Slavic restaurants that once proliferated the neighborhood.
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Reviews of Veselka in traditional press highlight its comfort food menu and describe the restaurant as a destination for late-night diners.
It also has released a cookbook: The Veselka Cookbook: Recipes and Stories from the Landmark Restaurant in New York’s East Village.
Odessa Cafe
119 Avenue A
New York, NY 10009-5820, United States
(212) 473-8916On one side of this gloriously tacky Ukrainian dive, a brightly lit diner caters to senior citizen locals and NYU students pulling all-nighters over coffee. Next door, a kitschy bar and restaurant serves the same greasy, delicious food to a lively crowd of post-collegiate punks on their way to or from the clubs. The ceiling is covered with what looks like red insulation foam; clusters of phallic gourds decorate the walls; and no, that landscape’s not a Rothko, it’s a Rodko.
Soyuzivka – July 16-18
216 Foordmore Rd
Kerhonkson, NY‎
(845) 626-5641‎Soyuzivka, also known as Suzi-Q or The Q, is a year-round Ukrainian resort and cultural center located in Kerhonkson, New York in the Shawangunk Ridge area south of the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York, providing workshops, seminars, concerts, dance recitals and art exhibits for those interested in learning about Ukraine and its rich culture.
Their annual Ukrainian Cultural Festival is happening this weekend at the resort and will feature bands Hrim, Zrada and Haydamaky.
Rochester Ukrainian Festival – August 12 – 15th
St. Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic Church
Ridge Road East at Stanton Lane
Rochester, New YorkThe St. Josaphat Ukrainian Festival was established in 1973 as an effort to introduce Ukrainian Arts and Crafts, Ukrainian food, and Ukrainian music and dance to the Rochester community.
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The Festival also has a number of vendors who display a variety of Ukrainian Arts and Crafts such as ceramics, embroidery, wood carvings, jewelry and Ukrainian Easter eggs.
Just this weekend Birmingham had it’s Ukrainian Festival:
For more than fifty years Sacred Heart Church in Castle Creek has celebrated their culture with a festival.
This past weekend, more than 2-thousand people attended the Ukrainian Festival.
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In addition to the live music, dancing and fresh food, vendors brought a taste of Ukraine back to the United States.
And while some Ukrainians travel thousands of miles to share authentic goods, one man has driven hundreds of miles just to get a taste of the festival.
"he and I are from Oklahoma. We were just on the lake vacationing, but we knew there was a Ukrainian festival and we didn’t want to miss it," said Gary Linsky from Oklahoma.
Happy travelling!
Very good list! I am a non-Ukrainian Ukrainophile who lives just outside Manhattan, and I have enjoyed some of these places. One place I'd add to the list is the Stage Restaurant, which is at 128 2nd Ave (Btwn 7th & 8th St) just a couple blocks from Vaselka. The Stage is a narrow diner with just a counter for seating, but I think their Ukrainian food is the best in the city.
Thanks for the tip, I'll be sure to include it 🙂