New York, Ukraine, is once again known as New York, Ukraine.
The town of Novhorodske was founded in 1889 by Mennonites under the name New York as part of an expansion of the Chortitza Mennonite colony. It was renamed to something less capitalistic in 1951 during the Cold War.
The community of about 12,000 has been campaigning to return to the old name in the hope that a change could help restore the economic prosperity it enjoyed before revolution came in the early 20th century.
The U.S. embassy in Kyiv announced on Twitter that the Ukrainian parliament supported the name change on July 1.
“Another reason to celebrate our close ties,” the embassy wrote. “We’re big fans of your new/old name!”
The community sits on the front line of Ukraine’s war with Russian-backed separatists. The U.S. government supports efforts to create closer ties with the West.
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