Novhorodske, Donbas to get back its historical name of New York
KYIV. Feb 4 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada Committee on the Organization of State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development, and Urban Planning supports renaming the city-type settlement of Novhorodske, Bakhmut district in the Donetsk region New York.
"Today, the Committee on the Organization of State Power and Local Self-Government has made the decision to rename the city-type settlement of Novhorodske, Bakhmut district in the Donetsk region New York," deputy head of the committee Oleksandr Kachura (Servant of the People faction) said on Telegram on Wednesday.
The decision was made "based on a recommendation issued by the Donetsk military-civilian administration: the address states that it is a historical name, which was used until 1951," Kachura said.
Novhorodske is a city-type settlement in the Donetsk region of Ukraine with a population of some 10,000 people. The railway station Fenolna, Kostiantynivka -Yasynuvata line, is located on the territory of the settlement. The Dzerzhinsk Phenol Plant is located there, as well.
The settlement was called New York until 1951. It is mentioned by that name in a drama by Viktor Nekrasov called In the Native City.
The settlement of New York was founded by Mennonites, who were invited to Russia by Catherine II. Under the Soviets (until 1931), the Mennonites were deported to the Amur region, where they organized a village called New York.
The Mennonites are a Protestant religious denomination named after its founder, Menno Simons (1496-1561), a native Dutchman. The Mennonites first arrived in Russia in 1789, when Empress Catherine II gave them vacant lands of Novorossiya for settlement. In 1854, Mennonite colonies appeared along the Volga River. Russian Mennonites are an ethnic-religious group of German origin. They have now practically merged with Russian Baptists.