1984: A LOOK BACK: Changing Ukrainian neighborhoods (12/30/84)

1984: A LOOK BACK

Changing Ukrainian neighborhoods

This was the year of the changing Ukrainian neighborhood in many of this country's older urban centers, and some of the changes were not necessarily for the better. In New York, the historic Lower East Side, long the hub of Ukrainian life in the Big Apple, suddenly became very trendy and the hottest area in town. Long a haven for artists, musicians and immigrants attracted by the area's low rents, the East Village (as it was dubbed, doubtlessly by clever real estate developers) found itself in the feverish throes of gentrification, which threatened to alter the character of the area and its Ukrainian businesses.

Emblematic of the neighborhood's changing face was the fate of the Orchidia Restaurant, owned by Maria Pidhorodecky and long a gathering place for young Ukrainians and local artists and actors. Mrs. Pidhorodecky was forced to close her doors early in the year when her rent jumped from $950 per month to $5,000 an incredible increase of some 526 percent. Despite massive community support the former Ukrainian immigrant, who owned the restaurant for 27 years, could not win her battle with the landlord.

The demise of the Orchidia was not the only business closure in the area, as other smaller and lesser-known Ukrainian businesses quietly ceased to exist. In a little over a year, the Eko Gift Shop and Karpaty Shoes, both on the same block as the restaurant, were forced to close because of astronomical rent increases.

But perhaps the most serious blow to a continued Ukrainian presence in the area was the October 23 fire that destroyed a large part of Ukrainian National Home, which housed a bar, restaurant and some 20 Ukrainian organizations and businesses. Although most large Ukrainian organizations have their own buildings - such as the UCCA, the Liberation Front, Plast, the Ukrainian Institute of America - the loss of the Ukrainian National Home dealt a profound psychological blow.

Although plans are currently in the works to either repair the home or replace it with a new, modern complex, New York's Ukrainians are being forced to ponder long and hard their future in a rapidly changing neighborhood that some had taken for granted. Decimated by suburban flight, business closings and the steady onslaught of gentrification, the city's "Little Ukraine" is facing perhaps its most serious crisis.

A similar scenario is being played out in other cities, including downtown Detroit, where the Ukrainian American Center closed its doors in August after 69 years of activity. Reasons cited for the closing were mounting operational expenditures, decisions by several Ukrainian organizations to locate in modern, suburban surroundings and declining interest by what was left of the inner city's younger Ukrainians.

Yet, the future of Ukrainian neighborhoods need not be completely bleak. The over-all renaissance of American cities promoted by young professionals choosing an urban rather than suburban lifestyle may also keep young Ukrainians in their neighborhoods. But plans must be made soon for such things as condominiums, seniors' housing and modern community centers in order to secure the future for our declining "Little Ukraines."