The Missing Museum - Honoring the Greek Legacy in Manhattan

"The Missing Museum - Honoring the Greek Legacy in Manhattan" is an article authored by Professor Alexander Kitroeff, published in The National Herald, January 27, 2024 Edition.  

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Several years ago, we were lucky enough to get permission from The National Herald to repost articles that are of interest to our group.

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It has occurred to me that Manhattan is in need of a Greek-American museum. The realization came to me in a roundabout way, and quite unexpectedly. On a recent visit to New York City I was gathering data for my next book by interviewing Greek-American diner owners. Over time, I hope to speak to as many if not all who have businesses in the five boroughs. This time round I managed to speak with the proprietors of Gee Whiz, Hector’s, Star on 18 in Manhattan and Park Plaza in Brooklyn and I am gratefully and happily processing the stories they generously shared with me. But in some cases, especially when I have no other way of getting in touch other than walking in off the street, diner owners are, understandably, circumspect. They politely decline to be interviewed, and skillfully brush me off. Their social skills are the hallmark of their trade and one of the reasons for the success of the Greeks in the restaurant business. They can attract customers as easily as they can deter researchers.

In one diner in Midtown Manhattan the owner deftly passed me on to the manager, a second generation Greek-American, who luckily turned out to be very informative. He shared one particular story that may not sound very special, but it had a deep impression on me. One day at work he heard Greek being spoken by a family in one of the booths and greeted them with ‘ti kanete’ and proceeded to have a conversation in Greek. They were a Greek immigrant family in Germany on a tourist visit who were surprised and delighted to come across another Greek in Midtown Manhattan.

The reason this story resonated with me is that I am always on the lookout for signs of a Greek wherever I visit, whether it’s a storefront or something grander. I think many share the thrill of ‘Greek meets Greek’ when we are traveling abroad.

But why should those looking forward to a ‘Greek meets Greek’ experience in Manhattan have to rely in happenstance, as was the case with the family from Germany? The borough had and still has such an extraordinarily significant Greek presence over the past century. Forget about Astoria and its Greektown for a moment – there is a case to be made about honoring the Greek legacy on Manhattan island. With the exception of the Greek Orthodox Churches and the Romaniote Synagogue, as well as the upscale Greek restaurants that are in full view, the rest of it remains hidden. It could and should easily be identified and, why not, visited as well. One could begin with the old Greek neighborhoods, such as Washington Heights where Maria Callas was raised, the Flower District around West 28th Street, a Greek stronghold decades ago, and especially the strip on Eighth Avenue called Bouzouki Boulevard because of the Greek owned nightclubs and eateries, as well as numerous nearby blocks stretching at least a mile on Ninth Avenue where many thousands of Greeks lived and even more from all over New York shopped.

A number of Greek artists lived and worked in Manhattan including Chryssa, Aristodemos Kaldis, Theodoros Stamos, and the abstract painter Jean Xceron, who worked at the Guggenheim Museum as a security guard. Might one be able to visit where their studios were or where they held major exhibits? Manhattan was also the site where prominent Greek-Americans displayed their creativity and the place they lived. Filmmaker Elia Kazan started his career in Manhattan, studying at the Julliard School, and his first national success came as a New York theatrical director. Dimitri Mitropoulos served as the conductor of the New York Philharmonic between 1948 and 1958. How nice it would be to see a plaque on the wall outside the buildings Kazan and Mitropoulos lived, marking their presence in the city. Buildings are also relevant. The architect Kostas Kondylis designed over 85 buildings in the city, several of them for Donald Trump, including Trump World Tower which caused controversy because of its height and aesthetic blandness. Another building with Greek connections is Olympic Tower on 5th Avenue. In the late 1960s and the 1970s one of New York’s most prominent graffiti artists was known simply as Taki 183, a name he chose because his first name was Demetraki and he was born on 183rd Street in Washington Heights. On a more somber note, there are the Greek names inscribed in marble at the 9/11 memorial.

All this Greek presence in Manhattan, even if it was recorded by plaques and signage, would be impossible to take in through a walking tour. And a bus tour would be out of the question given the city’s traffic gridlock. The distance from 9/11 to Washington Heights is about ten miles. Yet all this data could be gathered and displayed in a museum. There are over 30 museums in Manhattan as well as numerous cultural institutions that serve as the venues of exhibitions. Their focus includes the heritage of Asian-, Chinese-, Hispanic- Italian-, and Jewish-Americans. Unfortunately, one that could display our Greek-American heritage and its presence in Manhattan is missing. 

Alexander Kitroeff is Professor Emeritus of History, Haverford College.