The heart of the city’s Russian-speaking Brighton Beach neighborhood will be renamed after Ukraine
New York City will officially name the corner of Brighton Beach Avenue & Coney Island Avenue once Mayor Eric Adams has signed off on it “Ukrainian Way.” The two avenues intersect at the heart of Brooklyn’s neighborhood, once called “Little Odessa,”It is well-known for its large number of Russian-speakers as well as immigrants from the ex Soviet Union.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN, Sergey Kislitsa, announcedTwitter will be reporting on the imminent name change. However, the bill that contained it was passed last Wednesday as part of a campaign to identify another Brooklyn intersection as Little Bangladesh. A stretch in Queens, however, is designated as Little Thailand. According to PIX11, it will affect 78 public areas in New York City.
New York City is home to the largest Ukrainian community in the US, with more than 150,000 members concentrated mainly in Brooklyn and Manhattan’s East Village. Brighton Beach, which is located on the famous seaside strip has long been a popular destination for Soviet emigrants from Ukraine. It was renamed Brighton Beach after an Ashkenazi Jewish influx in the 1970s. “Little Odessa.”Russian is a common first language for many residents in the area.
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It was not immediately clear if the intersection’s new name was a gesture of support for Kiev by New York’s ruling Democrats, or part of the party’s ongoing effort to honor the various ethnic communities that settled in the largest US city.
The official name of the Newkirk Avenue subway station, Brooklyn was announced last November “Little Haiti,”While a Richmond Hill corner was nicknamed “Little Guyana”In May 2021 to recognize the largest South American expat community.
Since the beginning of this year, several European nations have given pro-Ukrainian names for streets within their capitals that are home to Russian embassies. Russia has responded by renaming the square outside the US embassy in Moscow after the Donetsk People’s Republic, while the plaza outside the UK embassy was named after the Lugansk People’s Republic. Moscow acknowledged the independence of both Donbass republics on February 1, before sending troops to Ukraine.
