Little Syria, Little Hungary, the Jewish Quarter: Manhattan really used to be a collection of tight ethnic enclaves.
From the 1930s through the 1960s, Lexington Avenue below 34th Street was Little Armenia, a mostly forgotten neighborhood of immigrant rug merchants, grocers, and other small business owners.
“On First, Second, Third, and Lexington Avenues, a small Armenian community was established,” writes Paul Sagsoorian in the Armenian cultural magazine Ararat.
“An Armenian church was obtained in 1915. It was named Saint Gregory the Illuminator Cathedral, after the patron saint of the Armenians.”
The cathedral is still there, on East 27th Street between Second and Third Avenues.
But few other traces of the old neighborhood remain. There’s Kalustyan’s grocery-turned-spice shop on 28th Street, a juncture now known as Curry Hill thanks to all the Indian restaurants and food stores there.
Huge, gold-domed St. Vartan Cathedral still draws a crowd at Second Avenue and 34th Street, and a park up the block on 35th Street bears the name of St. Vartan, the fifth century Armenian Christian martyr.
Tags: Curry Hill, Kalustyans, Little Armenia, New York churches, New York ethnic neighborhoods, St Vartan Cathedral, St. Gregory Illuminator Cathedral, St. Vartan's Park
April 30, 2012 at 8:19 pm |
I love learning this kind of history! There was an episode of “30 Rock” in which a character lived in a neighborhood called Little Chechnya, which I thought was an interesting nod to this kind of small-scale enthic phenomenon [although, OF COURSE it was a really scary 'hood].
May 1, 2012 at 2:28 pm |
I love that—I’m going to start telling people Little Chechnya is in the Bronx, and they have wonderful cafes and smoke shops…..
May 1, 2012 at 8:47 pm |
The building that houses Kalustyans was also the home of U.S. president Chester A. Arthur. He was sworn in there in 1881 following the assasination of James Garfield.
May 5, 2012 at 12:36 am |
Thank you for this reminder!
We used to enjoy going to a restaurant that I think was called “Balkan Armenian”, perhaps on E 27th or so between Lexington and 3rd? It was wonderful, and I’d forgotten about it until reading this post. I’m pretty sure I went there until the late 70′s at least.
Hmmm, a little googling finds a postcard which says it was at 129 E. 27th.
There was another Armenian church for a while at 207 E 30th, which later was turned into CBS’ legendary 30th St. Studio. It was knocked down in 1983 or so.
Yes, almost all of that culture is now gone from the neighborhood.
May 6, 2012 at 12:47 am |
Interesting, thanks! Instead of Balkan Armenian, today there’s a bunch of cheap but tasty Indian restaurants.