Kiev Restaurant

117 2nd Avenue | also 46 1/2 East 7th Street | East Village | built 1843

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

1883
A fourth story is added to William Hoople's 1840s rowhouse in 1883
The rowhouse at 117 Second Avenue was built around 1842-43 for William H. Hoople in Greek Revival style, with a peaked roof. In 1883 architect Jobst Hoffmann enlarged the roof to a full fourth story for owner Jacob Miller, and the Queen Anne cornice was probably added then. A two-story storefront followed in 1910.
Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission
1978
Soviet emigrant Michael Hrynenko opens the Kiev, a Ukrainian restaurant that never closes
Michael Hrynenko, a Soviet emigrant, founded the Kiev in 1978 in what had been Louis Auster's candy shop, where one of the original egg creams was reputedly made. The restaurant served pierogi, blintzes and kasha varnishkes, and stayed open around the clock most of its life. Both Allen Ginsberg and Ted Berrigan wrote the restaurant into their poems.
“Founded in 1978 by Soviet emigrant to the United States Michael Hrynenko ... the former location of Louis Auster's Candy Shop, who was one of the original creators of the egg cream.”
Source: Wikipedia
2006
The Kiev closes for good after a string of failed reopenings
The owner closed the Kiev in its original form in 2000. A series of remodelings and reopenings followed, none of which lasted, and the restaurant closed for good in 2006. By 2007 only a few Ukrainian restaurants, such as Veselka, remained in the blocks once nicknamed the Pierogi Belt.
Source: Wikipedia

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