arge numbers of immigrants from what is today Ukraine first arrived in New York in the 1880s. Many in the earliest period were Lemkos (or Carpatho-Rusyns) from western Ukraine; many others were also Yiddish-speaking Jews. In the mid-20th century, a distinctive Little Ukraine arose in what is now considered the East Village, including many refugees from Soviet rule in Ukraine and a significant number of intellectuals, writers, and artists. Other Ukrainian communities have formed in Brooklyn (where the Little Odessa in Brighton Beach was at first primarily Jewish but came to include more recent Ukrainian immigrants), and in Queens among Polish neighbors. Significant Ukrainian communities and institutions exist in central New Jersey (mother church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church) and upstate New York (the Soyuzivka Heritage Center) as well.