1 This is Novhorodske, an industrial town in the east of Ukraine.
The settlement was known as New York up until 1951, when Soviet authorities renamed it amid Cold War tensions with the United States.
2 Novhorodske’s House Of Culture, built in 1950.
It’s unclear why the settlement was given its unusual name. This New York was founded sometime before 1846 by ethnic German settlers.
On February 3, after earlier attempts were rejected, a Ukrainian parliamentary committee agreed to pass the town’s proposed name change to the full chamber for a vote. The vote has not yet been scheduled.
Kristina Shevchenko, who runs a group called Youth Of Ukrainian New York Initiative, told RFE/RL that if the vote is successful, Ukraine’s New Yorkers will “install a sign that will greet guests at the entrance to the town.”
5 A car on the banks of a Novhorodske lake on the western edge of the town.
Locals also plan to create a “Ukrainian New York” public square and their own newspaper called the New York News.
6 The head office of Novhorodske’s Phenol plant.
Today Novhorodske has around 10,000 residents but few employment opportunities. The only heavy industry still operating in the town is the Phenol plant, which today works at reduced capacity extracting naphthalene from coal.
7 A Soviet-era mural in Novhorodske.
Some residents eke out a living traveling back and forth to Poland on small-scale import-export expeditions.
8 A view over Novhorodske’s Phenol plant toward Horlivka, one of east Ukraine’s separatist-held cities.
Shevchenko told RFE/RL that the trench war between Ukraine and Russia-backed separatists that continues 4 kilometers from the edge of Novhorodske has further stifled the economy of the town, and many young people are leaving.
But despite hardships in the town, a lively Facebook page run by Novhorodske’s local council shows an energized civil society.
10 Young locals dance during an Ivan Kupala festival in Novhorodske.
The Facebook page keeps locals up to speed on pothole repairs, public celebrations, and the minutiae of municipal spending.
Shevchenko says locals’ hopes are high that the anticipated name change will boost the fortunes of her beloved hometown.
12 Young locals pay their respects at one of Novhorodske’s war memorials.
Shevchenko added: “We are very much waiting for a positive decision from parliament. We overcame a difficult and thorny path to have our history heard.”