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Post by valpomike on May 3, 2009 16:49:47 GMT 1
Loco,
Thank you, but that is just for that group, there must be another for the city, or area. Do you know where that is?
Mike
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Post by locopolaco on May 4, 2009 13:51:07 GMT 1
Loco, Thank you, but that is just for that group, there must be another for the city, or area. Do you know where that is? Mike that's the main polish cultural group in Chicago.. you may also check with the polish church on the very southern end of Milwaukee Ave that sits very much adjacent to the I-90 (kennedy xpressway at that point, i think) and, you're welcome.  |
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Post by Bonobo on May 9, 2009 21:24:04 GMT 1
Buffalo is Unofficial Dyngus Day CapitalClose
[http://tribeca.vidavee.com/bim/rest/file/GetFileThumbnailCustom/77F394A21A3F8B602F3150F013D81FE3/WKBW_23-11-35-22-23-13-17-01.ogg.jpg]
By John Borsa
WKBW-TV
Apr 13, 2009
If you had any doubts that Buffalo's Dyngus Day celebration is the biggest in the country, one look at the crowd at the city's old Central Terminal will convince you: Dyngus Day is a pretty big deal around here.
"This is awesome," said Lisa Chiandra, one of an estimated 5,000 who attended the Central Terminal Party. "It's the first time I've done the Polish thing. I'm not Polish."
That's okay. On Dyngus Day, everyone is polish.
This year's celebration is the biggest ever. It's been three years since the various venues organized to promote the event as one big party. More than two dozen bars and establishments hosted events this year.
"They keep growing," said organizer Eddy Dobosiewicz. "The parade and this event just keeps growing and growing. Just when we thought it couldn't get any bigger, it grows."
The parade turned out to be the highlight of the day with more than 100 organizations taking part in the two-mile long route from the Broadway Market, through the east side, an area that's been dubbed the Historic Polonia District, and ending at the terminal.
"This is fun, frolic, we're having a great time," said Mike Piwo, who grew up in the area. "Getting back to the old neighborhoods in Buffalo. The east side is where it's at."
Dyngus Day celebrates Easter Monday and the end of the lenten season. It has routes dating back to the 15th century in Poland.
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Dyngus Day justifies fanfare
Polish parade fills revelers, marchers with ethnic pride, hope for future
By Tom Buckham
The Buffalo News
4/14/09
By 5 p. m. Monday, revelers stood six deep at Gibson and Sinkiewicz streets, which sounded and felt like a mini-Times Square on New Year's Eve.
People in red T-shirts with white letters proclaiming "You bet your pierogis I'm Polish," "Whip me, squirt me," "Who stole the kiszka" and "I stole the kiszka"—many of them with a beer in one hand and a girl thingy willow sprig in the other — whooped and cheered as Buffalo's third annual Dyngus Day Parade rounded the corner on its way through the heart of Polonia.
Their enthusiasm was matched by the marchers and folks riding floats, flatbed trailers and cars, who danced the polka, tossed candy and occasionally a loaf of rye bread and sprayed the crowd with water blasters.
"This is the best day ever!" declared Christine Galey, 22, of Hamburg, who came to the Polish East Side not quite knowing what to expect, after reading online about this yearly celebration of a formerly ob-
scure ethnic tradition.
"I think it's better than St. Patrick's Day," opined Galey, who despite her Irish last name said she is of Polish and French- Canadian descent. "I knew it was a celebration, but I didn't know it was one of the biggest Dyngus Day events anywhere."
That it is — and getting bigger by the year, said organizers Marty Biniasz and "Airborne Eddie" Dobosiewicz, who have turned what began in 1961 as a fundraiser for the Chopin Singing Society into a community-wide festival known as Dyngus Day Buffalo.
For the uninitiated, Dyngus Day is an unofficial Polish- American holiday, observed with girl thingy willows and squirt guns, marking the end of Lent, the solemn 40 days of prayer and self-denial leading up to Easter.
More than 75 units and hundreds of participants lined up outside Corpus Christi Catholic Church on Clark Street for the parade, which wound through the historic neighborhood at a deliberate pace, passing Broadway Market and the Adam Mickewicz Library and Dramatic Circle on Fillmore Avenue before turning back to Central Terminal, site of the largest Dyngus party.
"Never underestimate the power of the girl thingy willow," Dobosiewicz quipped as he and Biniasz walked behind a float near the end of the parade route.
The number of marchers, floats, spectators, parties, bands and bars taking part in the post- Easter outburst of fun-making — as well as the cases of beer and vodka sold — has grown by leaps and bounds, they said.
Just recently Corpus Christi Church and Broadway Market, both East Side landmarks, joined the list of post-parade party sites, along with Adam Plewacki Post 799, American Legion, Biniasz noted.
Another sign of the event's spreading reputation is the number of people traveling long distances to join in the revelry. They came from Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Southern Ontario, which have large Polish populations but don't celebrate Dyngus Day quite as zestfully.
The underlying purpose of the hearty partying is to focus attention on one of the city's most storied neighborhoods — a square mile in which 80,000 Polish immigrants settled between the early 1870s and the end of World War I.
Like other segments of the East Side, it has suffered decades of decay, but it is on the cusp of resurgence, Biniasz said.
Dyngus Day can help by persuading people to "look past the blight," Dobosiewicz added.
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Polish Pride: Day at Capitol honors heritage
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
By JENNIFER ABEL
New Britain (CT) Herald
Michael Budney, president of Budney Industries in Berlin, speaks with his family in attendance, next to Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, left, and State Representative John "Corky" Mazurek, D-80th District, right, after being honored during "Polish Day at the Capitol" in the Hall of the Flags in the Capitol in Hartford.
HARTFORD — The Polish flag flew high over the state Capitol Wednesday as Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, state Rep. Peter Tercyak, D-New Britain, and members of the General Assembly's Polish caucus celebrated Polish Day at the Capitol, an annual event that commemorates the May 3 anniversary of the Polish Constitution of 1791, and also honors Connecticut residents of Polish descent.
Students from the Sts. Cyril and Methodius School in Hartford sang traditional Polish songs and spent the rest of the morning looking down on the ceremony from the second-floor balconies.
Polish immigrant and New Britain resident Monika Krajewska, a professional opera singer, sang the American and Polish national anthems. The Polish anthem, titled "Mazurek Dabrowskiego, " literally translates as "Dabrowski's Mazurka." However, the song is often called "Poland is not yet lost" or "Poland has not perished yet." After Krajewska's performances, Father Dariusz Gosciniak of New Britain's Holy Cross Church gave an English-language invocation.
Bysiewicz, the granddaughter of Polish immigrants, welcomed the day's guests by noting that "Polish Day has become a very important tradition here at the Capitol." Bysiewicz said that Connecticut' s 300,000 Polish people give the state the third-highest concentration of Poles in America, behind only Wisconsin and Michigan.
Tercyak, the next speaker, noted that Polish Day "was started two state representatives before me, by New Britain's beloved Stan Krawiec."
Krawiec's daughter Deborah, who attended the ceremony, said her father started Polish Day in 1990 because "he was very proud of his Polish heritage. This is a way to take pride and elevate it."
Rows of folding chairs set up in the building's Hall of the Flags provided seating for the ceremony's hundred or so visitors. With the exception of Deborah Krawiec, every front-row seat was occupied by a Polish Army veteran from World War II. Tercyak made a point of thanking them in his speech.
"These are folks who couldn't wait for America to enter the war ... thank you very much. You helped save our country."
One of the war veterans was Kazimierz Zawadski, a member of New Britain's General Haller Post 111 of the Polish Army Veterans Association of America.
"I joined the Polish Army in 1937," he said. He fought the Germans when they invaded in 1939, and after the Nazis overran Poland he still fought for the Allied side, first with the French army and air force and then with the British RAF. He moved to America in 1951.
Pawel Kotowski, a counselor with the Polish Embassy in Washington, D.C., was one of the day's featured speakers, and conveyed a message of friendship on behalf of the Polish ambassador. After him came Przemyslaw Balcerzyk from the Polish Consulate in New York, who noted that Poland's constitution was only the second in the world (after that of the United States) to confirm people's right to be free.
The main point of the ceremony involved honoring seven notable Connecticut residents of Polish descent, including Joan Taf, who in 1999 became the first woman mayor of Naugatuck; Joe Jaskiewicz, current mayor of Montville; and Berlin businessman Michael Budney.
Wolcott state Rep. Corky Mazurek introduced Budney, and said that in the 1940s, Budney's machine shop provided Pratt & Whitney with engine parts that proved crucial to the Allied war effort. Budney later started Atlantic Tool in New Britain, and is now president of Budney Industries in Berlin. Many of his current and former employees were Polish immigrants.
"He still works six days a week — at 97 years old!" Mazurek said. "I'd like to see what he does on his day off. Probably works around the house."
Budney said of himself, "I'm a thousand percent Polack ... I love to run heavy equipment, love to run a bulldozer, a backhoe, I love to work in the country. I'm a real Polish man."
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Post by Bonobo on May 29, 2009 19:32:36 GMT 1
The New Poland: A country transformed
5/25/09
(CNN) -- It has been nearly 20 years since Poland's Solidarity movement defeated the Communist Party in an historic election that prompted the fall of communism across central and eastern Europe.
CNN International marks this significant anniversary with "The New Poland," a week of programming examining the transformation of Poland from 1989 to where it sits today on the world stage.
The combination of daily live programming and special reports from CNN correspondents in cities across Poland culminates June 4 with "Autumn of Change, an in-depth documentary that takes a retrospective look at the events leading up to the election exactly 20 years ago.
Reflecting the tumultuous year of 1989, which changed Europe forever, "Autumn of Change" will mix live programming and documentary programming, unforgettable historical images with interviews past and present, and a huge online audience initiative through Poland, Hungary, Germany, the former Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Romania, in a comprehensive narrative of events that have helped to shape the Europe of today.
"CNN's combination of historic footage, comprehensive reporting and access to Poland's key figures puts us in an unparalleled position to set the scene for how Poland was the catalyst for the Europe of today," said Mike McCarthy, vice president of coverage and feature programming for CNN International.
"In step with the anniversaries of the events themselves, CNN will invite viewers to take part in our ambitious account of how Europe has changed over the last 20 years and what the future may hold."
About the programming:
Just eight months after reporting from Poland for the week-long "Eye on Poland" special, Fionnuala Sweeney returns to the country to anchor the network's live coverage for "The New Poland."
She will report on the various commemoration and celebration ceremonies throughout the week from cities across Poland including Warsaw, Krakow and Gdansk.
In addition to Sweeney's live reports, CNN correspondent Frederik Pleitgen will take viewers inside the Poland of today looking at the political, cultural, social and economic changes that have taken place in the past 20 years.
The programs include:
-- Gdansk Today: CNN goes to the city of Gdansk, the birthplace of the Solidarity movement, to see how a new ship building firm is coping with the economic crisis.
-- Catholicism in Poland: CNN looks at the Catholic Church in Poland and the challenges it faces. We visit Religia TV, a new project that aims to attract Catholics as well as viewers from other religions.
-- Business in Poland: CNN talks to a Warsaw-based family business to see how the fall of communism affected them and hear their views on the global economic crisis.
-- Polish Cuisine: CNN speaks to Krakow's top celebrity chef and historian Robert Maklowicz about Polish cuisine and the recent trend to return to its roots.
-- Poland's Film School: CNN visits Poland's largest film production Centrex, the National Film, Television and Theatre School in Lodz, and finds out what makes this school so unique.
About the documentary:
By combining narratives from key players within the Solidarity movement, the Communist leadership, CNN reporters who covered the events and Polish civilians who lived through it all, Autumn of Change charts the individuals, relationships and astonishing chain of events that shook eastern Europe to its foundations.
About the online coverage:
CNN's television coverage will be complemented by a full interactive companion site. This special site will feature a number of pieces that reflect the cultural influence of this movement as well as narratives from some of the major figures involved in the process.
Via iReport.com, CNN will also encourage viewers and users from Poland and elsewhere to submit content -- photos, videos and comments -- to illustrate personal experiences. Whether a part of this revolutionary period or not, CNN wants to know how these pivotal events affected them.
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Post by Bonobo on Jun 16, 2009 21:18:34 GMT 1
Family of girl, 11, battles her deportation to Poland
8-year-old paperwork problem could split Forsyth girl from her parents, who are citizens
Associated Press
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Cumming — The family of an 11-year-old Forsyth County girl is trying to keep her from having to return to Poland next month because the family missed a deadline to apply for the right for her to remain in the U.S.
The girl, Ewelina Bledniak, hasn't been in Poland since she was 2 years old. Immigration officials say she must return there and wait a year before she can come home.
Hubert Bledniak, Ewelina's father, is a U.S. citizen. He says an attorney missed a deadline in 2001 that would have allowed Ewelina to apply for a green card.
The Bledniaks say they're not optimistic about winning a legal battle before the girl's July 23 deadline, so they've bought plane tickets to accompany her to Poland.
Ewelina will stay with her grandmother in Poland until she gets her green card.
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Post by Bonobo on Jun 25, 2009 18:31:57 GMT 1
'My daughter belongs here'
Ewelina Bledniak, 10, faces being deported to Poland soon after paperwork was not filed properly in 2001.
Forsyth County News Online - ýJun 15, 2009ý
Ewelina Bledniak has mixed emotions about traveling to Poland the week after her 11th birthday.
Bledniak, who is facing deportation resulting from a paperwork error, must leave the country before July 23 to avoid the penalty. She will fly July 20 to Warsaw, Poland.
The rising sixth-grader said she's somewhat excited to make the trip, but is "also sad because of the consequences. "
Though a native of the eastern European country, she has lived in Forsyth County since before her second birthday.
While the voluntary departure from America would prevent a 10-year ban on her return, it could also take up to one year before she is granted re-entry.
"She doesn't know what is involved with legal immigration rules, she just knows she's going to Poland and we don't know when she's going to be back," said Bledniak's father, Hubert. "We're all nervous.
"If we could at least know how long this is going to take, we could know how to act. But it seems we're facing something that we don't quite know how long is going to take. Everything is unknown. It's going to be tough for her."
Her father and mother, Agnes, will accompany their daughter to Warsaw. She will stay with her maternal grandmother, Barbara Szulinska, until her paperwork is resolved.
Hubert Bledniak, owner of Tile South, a tile manufacturing company, can stay with his daughter for just a few weeks. His wife plans to stay longer and may decide to leave her job at Modavi Restaurant to remain with their daughter in Poland.
In 1992 at age 17, Hubert Bledniak moved from Poland to America, where he has remained. He has since become a naturalized citizen. His wife, who moved from Poland in 1999, is a lawful permanent resident.
Their daughter was also supposed to be a permanent resident, but Hubert Bledniak said the family's attorney did not file the child's paperwork until nearly a year after the April 2001 deadline. By then, it was too late.
Bledniak is holding out hope that within the next few weeks a resolution can be reached that allows his daughter to stay in Forsyth County.
"We shouldn't be separated. I live here, I pay taxes and I'm supposed to be protected by the law," he said. "I don't feel like I'm treated as a citizen.
"This is my child, my own child ... I got my citizenship, my wife got her green card. I think no matter what, my daughter belongs here."
Bill Wright, spokesman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said the case is being looked at carefully.
But because it's pending, Wright could not reveal specific information about the case, other than to say the main concern is ensuring the law was followed in the girl's entry to the country.
"We are very sympathetic of this case," he said. "It's heart wrenching to look at.
"There are other cases in which USCIS has been involved in where you work with the families, you go above and beyond to make sure every possible remedy is looked at, to make sure that somebody isn't being unduly treated ... and this agency is doing just that."
Wright said the department has options to help expedite the process for the child.
The law must be followed, but possibilities include resolving the issue before she departs, reducing the amount of time she must wait in Poland or offering humanitarian parole, which would allow her to stay in America while being processed.
The family has hired a new lawyer and is contacting everyone they can think of for help.
"We wrote a letter to President [Barack] Obama and we wrote a letter to Sen. [Johnny] Isakson and we contacted him by phone," said Hubert Bledniak. "He's going to try to help us to speed up the process."
Sheridan Watson, Isakson's press secretary, confirmed the Bledniaks' plea.
"We have been in touch with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on their behalf," she said. "It's our understanding their case is currently being reviewed and we have made USCIS aware of our strong interest in this case."
Szulinska, who speaks little English, has come to the United States about six times in the past decade to visit her family, bringing chocolates and candy from their homeland.
She is currently in Forsyth County to help her granddaughter get used to speaking Polish on a regular basis.
"She's going to be the person I know the most," Ewelina Bledniak said. "I barely know anyone else. It`s going to feel like they're complete strangers."
Though the family speaks both English and Polish at home, she said it will take some getting used to if she has to attend school in Poland.
"There's going to be one English class. Like you know how here, it's Spanish. In Poland, it's English," she said. "So that's going to be very, very easy."
Her purple bedroom displays many of her artistic creations. But in addition to drawing and making origami figures, Ewelina Bledniak loves to dance. For the past six years, she has taken jazz and ballet classes at the North Atlanta Dance Academy.
Kitty Garrison, co-owner of the academy, said Agnes Bledniak recently broke the news her daughter would have to stop taking classes for a while.
"I think it's really ridiculous that somebody whose parents are citizens, and who is just a child, could be sent back for paperwork errors when we have many, many, many illegal people coming into this country who are not monitored," Garrison said.
"That's just terrible to break a family up. She's a very respectful and well-mannered young lady and very much an American girl."
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Post by valpomike on Jun 26, 2009 0:30:58 GMT 1
This is another sign of poor leadership, Bush would not let this happen. This, your. Pres. turned his back on Poland, many times since he took office.
Mike
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Post by locopolaco on Jun 26, 2009 1:03:56 GMT 1
mike, mike, mike... bush did the same to a couple from cleveland. look it up. rep. kucinich tried to help but your man wouldn't budge... besides.. bush is the one who tightened the regulations and cut off poles from the easy visas. so no, you can't blame any of this one obama either.. nice try though.
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Post by valpomike on Jun 26, 2009 16:48:41 GMT 1
Tell me more of the family of Cleveland, I am unable to find anything.
But Bush was the one who set up for the American missile bases in Poland, and your man, is going to stop this.
Mike
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Post by locopolaco on Jun 26, 2009 20:12:07 GMT 1
Tell me more of the family of Cleveland, I am unable to find anything. But Bush was the one who set up for the American missile bases in Poland, and your man, is going to stop this. Mike they were from Garfield Heights, OH and their last name is Zajac. the missile deal wasn't a good one for poland, overall, so this may be a blessing after all. |
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Post by valpomike on Jun 29, 2009 0:33:07 GMT 1
The missile deal was a great one for all, but most of all for Poland, it gave her, more money in Poland, and safety, from all.
Mike
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Post by locopolaco on Jun 29, 2009 6:04:50 GMT 1
The missile deal was a great one for all, but most of all for Poland, it gave her, more money in Poland, and safety, from all. Mike no mike, poland got the shirt end of the stick on this deal.. doesn't matter though because it's off for the time being. it sure didn't make poland safer as the russians rolled up their weapons towards PL and even pointed them at the country. |
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Post by valpomike on Jun 29, 2009 17:24:54 GMT 1
How was this bad for Poland, was it the money that U.S. was pouring into Poland, or was it the safer place, we, the U.S. made for Poland. You just did not like Bush, or anything he ever did.
Mike
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Post by locopolaco on Jun 29, 2009 21:01:16 GMT 1
How was this bad for Poland, was it the money that U.S. was pouring into Poland, or was it the safer place, we, the U.S. made for Poland. You just did not like Bush, or anything he ever did. Mike i'm not pissed at bush about this at all.. if anybody it's the duck brothers. in exchange for hosting these anti-missiles poland got obsolete american military eq., polish territorial sovereignty was compromised and a host of other issues.. it was not a good deal for poland, imho. look into it instead of just saying it was great because bush did it. |
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Post by valpomike on Jun 30, 2009 14:13:58 GMT 1
The Army equipment had nothing to do with the deal, that was just extra. Poland was getting protection from all, and more American money, from all who would man this equipment, and the cost of putting this together.
And yes, you don not like either Bush, and I don't know why, could it be just there party.
I know being Polish, you must go for the other party. But wake up and think for yourself, not just a party of our fathers.
Mike
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Post by locopolaco on Jun 30, 2009 19:38:36 GMT 1
The Army equipment had nothing to do with the deal, that was just extra. Poland was getting protection from all, and more American money, from all who would man this equipment, and the cost of putting this together. And yes, you don not like either Bush, and I don't know why, could it be just there party. I know being Polish, you must go for the other party. But wake up and think for yourself, not just a party of our fathers. Mike it was not extra and even if it was then poland really got nothing for it.. bush as well as the duck brothers are all idiots.. that is all.. tusk got kind of hurried into it too.. |
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paulo
Just born
Posts: 44
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Post by paulo on Jul 1, 2009 1:00:24 GMT 1
Can you guys let me in on this joke: Who in the world are the Duck Brothers? It could give some comic relief.
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Post by valpomike on Jul 1, 2009 1:47:56 GMT 1
Loco,
This is only yours, and a small part, of the small minded people who think the way you do, thank God for that. And the amount is getting smaller each day.
Mike
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Post by locopolaco on Jul 1, 2009 8:33:25 GMT 1
Can you guys let me in on this joke: Who in the world are the Duck Brothers? It could give some comic relief. oh sorry.. the Kaczynski brothers.. one is still the prez of PL.. the other once was the PM.. they ruled together for a while.. Kaczka in PL means duck. and never mind mike and me here.. we just always spar like this.  |
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Post by locopolaco on Jul 1, 2009 8:35:29 GMT 1
Loco, This is only yours, and a small part, of the small minded people who think the way you do, thank God for that. And the amount is getting smaller each day. Mike the reality is actually the opposite.. repos are getting caught with their pants down at least once a week now.. making a total joke of their conservative "values".. sorry to wreck your world like that but i'm sure that doesn't faze you one bit anyway. |
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Post by valpomike on Jul 1, 2009 14:28:50 GMT 1
Again,
As per you, and could be only you.
Mike
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Post by Bonobo on Jul 3, 2009 21:33:34 GMT 1
NY Polish Workers Struggle to Keep Their Jobs
New America Media
Jun 22, 2009
Editor's note: Translated from Polish by Aleksandra Slabisz, this story first appeared in "Voices That Must Be Heard," the online publication of New York Community Media Alliance.
Reports on the New York job market indicate that the situation is dire, with hundreds of applicants for each job opening. The construction sector in New York seems to be hit particularly hard.
"There is a tremendous slowdown in business. I get goose bumps thinking how much it is down," says Mariusz Rogalski, one of the owners of MR Electrical Contracting, which has been in the market for the past 21 years.
Although the latest statistics on the U.S. job market indicate a decline in the number of layoffs, there appears to be no improvement in the construction sector. Banks are not giving out loans and people are not investing in new projects. All this makes Polish workers fear for their employment situation, and those who have lost their jobs are having trouble finding new employment.
Jobs on hold
"We are still in operation and are doing our best not to let our workers feel the consequences of the crisis," says MR's Rogalski, who employs 12 people. He says it is hard. "The problem is not only the lack of new contracts. Many projects have been put on hold because the customers cannot get loans. On top of that, some dishonest people are taking advantage of the situation and use the crisis as the excuse not to pay us. We find it hard sometimes to get paid by clients whose projects we have completed," he explains.
In order to survive, MR Electrical Contracting has put on hold investing in new technology and equipment. "We are cutting down on expenses but we do not want to lay off people. I hope we will survive," says the owner.
Remodeling instead of building
Companies specializing in remodeling are doing a little bit better. "In the last year we have noticed a decline in the volume of contracts, but the situation isn't too bad. Our clients, mostly Americans, want to remodel. We get many contracts for new floors," says Maciej Jarmal, owner of MJ Polish Complete Floor Service, in the market for seven years. "I haven't had to lay off anybody. We are doing well," he says.
"We feared the worst. For three months we were not sure whether we would get any contracts. Some people had to be sent off on vacation," says Dorota Slabuszewska, from Jepol Construction, Inc. "Lately, though, things have gone back to normal. The employees are back on their shifts and Jepol is hiring new specialists, " she added.
Surviving the crisis
There are some who have not felt the crisis. Krzysztof Pogorzelski, owner of K Construction, says his company is doing great. "We already survived one economic crisis a couple of years ago. We worked hard then, but managed to stay afloat," he says.
Pogorzelski employs 40 people and will not be laying off any of them. He has been getting new clients, thanks to the good quality service and recommendations, he believes.
"This year we are filling contracts we signed last year; however, we feel the crisis in other ways. We noticed that a lot of people are looking for jobs. When we advertise a job opening, we get 200 to 300 calls a day," he says, "when just half a year ago it was hard to find a skilled worker."
Another sign of the economic crisis says Pogorzelski, is "recently, some of our customers have resigned themselves to getting less expensive fixtures or tell us they will delay payment for the job."
Drama on the job market
Generally speaking, however, the situation is dramatic. "In my opinion, the construction sector is declining. Many builders and construction company owners are looking for jobs. I have not seen something like this in 20 years," says Janusz Koldowski, owner of the Kalejdoskop Employment Agency in Long Island.
Jakub Uszko, manager of Poland Employment Agency in Brooklyn, speaks in a similar tone. "In comparison to last year, the situation is very tough. A lot more people are looking for jobs. Job openings are available from time to time, but employers have higher requirements now," says Uszko.
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Post by Bonobo on Jul 8, 2009 20:58:36 GMT 1
Sexual deviants massing around children at Niagara Street school
Mike Hudson
Niagara Falls Reporter
6/29/09
I've known him for years, a retiree from one of the shops. He doesn't have any children in Niagara Street School, but his granddaughter goes there.
He's an easygoing guy, spends most summer mornings bass fishing on the Niagara River and his early afternoons at one or another Niagara Street watering hole, having a few small draft beers before going home.
But on this particular afternoon, he was anything but easygoing; in fact he seemed agitated. He'd lived in the East Side neighborhood all his life and raised his family there. And what was happening just a few blocks from his home and the school his granddaughter walked to every day bothered him a great deal.
"They better do something about it quick," he said. "Because somebody's going to burn the damn place down."
By "they," he meant the Niagara Falls city government. And the "damn place" is the Midtown Inn, a flophouse located just a few blocks from Niagara Street School, at 1967 Niagara St. Its residents include the highest concentration of registered sex offenders to be found anywhere in Niagara County.
The individuals living at the Midtown are sexual predators, and their numbers include an alarming percentage of repeat offenders. To make matters worse, a majority of them seem to prefer children as their targets. According to the Niagara County Sheriff's Department and the state Division of Criminal Justice Services, as many as 24 deviants currently call the flophouse home.
There's Timothy Faux, a 66-year-old white male who has been convicted of first-degree rape, second-degree rape, first-degree sodomy, second-degree sodomy and first-degree sexual abuse in various cases over the years. Or George Garbutt, who's just 34 but already has a record that includes two convictions for sodomy in the second degree and two more for first-degree sexual abuse.
Charles Hagen has a pair of convictions for first-degree rape and first-degree sodomy, while the hulking, 300-pound Thomas Wesley Harmon has a pair of sodomy convictions.
One of the scariest is Paul Thompson, convicted of sexual contact with a child in the first degree.
Other sexual predators who law enforcement sources say live at the Midtown include Vincent Duffy, Morgan Lee, Lester Losell, Mark Miles, Lyle Silversmith, Michael Soulvie, Gerald Tierney, Pablo Alvarado, Dale Ealy, Donald Harris, James Doll, Philip Morton, Howard Kyle, James Wainman, Kevin Kropp, James McKinney, John Fetter, James Liotta and Clifton Brown.
All of these men are a danger to the community and all of them are living at the Midtown in violation of city ordinance. A law passed by the City Council in 2006 makes it illegal for registered sex offenders to live within 1,500 feet of a school, park or childcare facility. According to city Inspector Dennis Virtuoso, who measured it last week, the distance between the Midtown Inn and Niagara Street Elementary School is 1,287 feet.
Furthermore, Virtuoso said, the Midtown is located just 870 feet from a non-profit youth wrestling center, another violation of the ordinance.
So why hasn't Mayor Paul Dyster taken action to have it closed? Until last week, when protesters set up shop in front of Niagara Street School and the Midtown, he hadn't even acknowledged publicly that a problem even existed.
Manuela Miller, who organized the protest, said the time for action had arrived.
"There's two mentally ill sex offenders living there," Miller said. "We need to get them out immediately. We can't take a year to decide what to do, something can happen to one of our children before that."
Unfortunately, the mayor's 18-month tenure thus far has not been characterized by decisive action.
When asked about the situation, Dyster boldly told the Buffalo News, "We think that there's a need for some coordination and maybe for some clarification of jurisdictions. "
Clearly, the City of Niagara Falls is Dyster's jurisdiction. And while he may see the problem as one of "coordination" and "clarification, " East Side residents and especially those with children attending Niagara Street School see it as one of a gang of perverts, rapists and sexual predators living a few blocks away from them.
Niagara Falls Board of Education President Robert Kazeangin put it succinctly.
"It doesn't matter if it's 1,500 feet or 1,000 feet away, it's in the same neighborhood as a school and that's unacceptable, " he said.
Sources close to the problem told the Reporter that, in a private meeting with Dyster before the protesters took to the streets and began making headlines, the mayor told them that the dangerous sexual predators "have to live somewhere," and seemed unconcerned about the issue.
Former city councilwoman Candra Thomason said that that the situation has gotten completely out of control, and lays the blame squarely on the shoulders of the current administration.
"The East Side has always been a good neighborhood, filled with hardworking families, churches and a good school," she said. "There's a law on the books, and the mayor needs to enforce it. Why he's choosing not to do so is something he ought to explain."
Another official who might be on the spot is state Supreme Court Justice Richard Kloch, who decided to send serial child rapist James A. McKinney to the Midtown, rather than following the recommendations of defense and prosecuting attorneys in the case, who asked that McKinney be sent to live with his mother in North Tonawanda.
Kloch himself lives in North Tonawanda.
Clearly, the state has decided that the East Side of Niagara Falls, the old Polish neighborhood where generations have lived and raised their families, makes a swell dumping ground for the worst sort of vermin humanity has to offer.
Judge Kloch has shown by his actions that he doesn't want dangerous sexual predators living in his neighborhood, and we can only imagine what would happen if some private individual tried to open a facility similar to the Midtown Inn near Dyster's Orchard Parkway home.
The Midtown is a privately owned business that is currently in violation of city ordinance on two counts and Niagara County law on a third. If it happens to burn down one night while its occupants are asleep in their beds, or if a child is abducted, raped or even murdered while walking home from Niagara Street School, our city's do-nothing mayor will bear no small part of the blame.
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Post by Bonobo on Jul 8, 2009 21:03:09 GMT 1
Cop taped beating Chicago bartender gets probation
By DON BABWIN
6/23/09
CHICAGO (AP) — An off-duty Chicago police officer convicted of pummeling a female bartender half his size was sentenced Tuesday to two years probation and anger management classes for the videotaped attack that appeared worldwide on the Internet and cable news channels.
Cook County Circuit Judge John Fleming also gave Anthony Abbate, 40, a home curfew of 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. and ordered him to perform 130 hours of community service.
"No one in recent memory ... has done more to tarnish the reputation of the Chicago Police Department than Anthony Abbate," Cook County Assistant State's Attorney LuAnn Snow said Tuesday.
Prosecutors had asked for prison for Abbate — he could have been sentenced to up to five years behind bars — but the judge said he didn't see aggravating factors to justify a prison term. The judge said Abbate had a clean record before the incident, did not seriously injure the bartender, and underwent alcohol rehab "and has not had a relapse."
"If I believed sentencing Anthony Abbate to prison would stop people from getting drunk and hitting people, I'd give him the maximum sentence," Fleming said.
Earlier this month, the judge rejected Abbate's claim he acted in self-defense and convicted him of aggravated battery. A tavern security video shows a drunken, 250-pound Abbate punching and kicking the 125-pound Karolina Obrycka as she tended bar in February 2007. The altercation happened after she refused to serve him more drinks.
The video captured a lot of attention as another example of misconduct by Chicago police. Then-Superintendent Phil Cline suddenly announced his retirement shortly after the video surfaced and former FBI official Jody Weis was appointed to the spot with an order to clean up the department's image.
Abbate acknowledged during the trial that he was drunk during the incident. But he said Obrycka pushed him first as she tried to remove him from behind the bar. Obrycka said during the hearing that she continues to suffer psychological wounds, often has nightmares and has trouble trusting people, including her husband.
Prosecutors and Obrycka said they were disappointed with the sentence. Her attorney, Terry Ekl, said he expected the lawsuit Obrycka filed against Abbate and city to go to trial this year.
Abbate declined comment as he walked out of the courtroom holding his girlfriend's hand.
"He's not a bad man, he did something bad," said his defense attorney, Peter Hickey. He characterized the incident as "one silly, stupid act."
Abbate has been relieved of his duties and pay, Chicago Police Department spokesman Officer Robert Perez said.
The department is looking into "separation proceedings, " Perez said. Weis has said he wants Abbate fired.
Karolina Obrycka leaves Cook County criminal court after a hearing in the case of Chicago Police officer Anthony Abbate, Tuesday, March 11, 2008, in Chicago. Abbate faces more than a dozen felony charges, including aggravated battery and official misconduct, in the videotaped beating of Obrycka, a Chicago bartender. From AP Photo by Brian Kersey.
Chicago Police officer Anthony Abbate leaves Cook County criminal court after a hearing in Chicago, Tuesday, March 11, 2008. Abbate faces more than a dozen felony charges, including aggravated battery and official misconduct, in the videotaped beating of Chicago bartender Karolina Obrycka. From AP Photo by Brian Kersey.
Anthony Abbate
Karolina Obrycka
www.presschicago.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=4215&g2_serialNumber=2
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Post by valpomike on Jul 8, 2009 21:40:59 GMT 1
This is very unfair, more so since she was not Polish, and hot.
Mike
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Post by Bonobo on Jul 19, 2009 22:08:34 GMT 1
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Post by valpomike on Jul 20, 2009 15:58:44 GMT 1
Thank you, thank you very much.
Mike
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Post by Bonobo on Aug 6, 2009 21:01:40 GMT 1
No new light on windows' fate
Panel wants more data on dispute over church
By Olivia Bobrowsky
Baltimoresun. com
July 15, 2009
The stained glass windows of St. Stanislaus Kostka Roman Catholic Church in Fells Point are hard to see. The floral designs are shrouded by discolored20plexigl ass, but they are the clear focus of a dispute between developers who want to replace them with plain glass and the Polish congregants who don't want them touched.
Developers who want to convert the church into a commercial or residential property say that without natural light, the building is useless. Members of the Polish community, though, say that the windows of their former church are an important legacy of their faith and history.
The developers, Josh Neiman of Hybrid Development Group and Larry Silverstein of Union Box Co., took their case before Baltimore's Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation on Tuesday. But the commission declined to make a recommendation, asking the developers for more information on the windows' precise age and religious significance.
Because the church is a historic landmark, the developers need CHAP approval for any changes.
The church is owned by the Franciscan Friars, who closed it in 2000 and have come under fire from former members who want the building preserved, preferably as a museum. Michael Sarnecki, the president of the Polish Community Center of Baltimore's ad hoc committee, said the proposed renovations give the entire Polish community "very serious concerns."
A handful of other former congregants attended the hearing, all clapping vigorously after preservation commissioner Michael Murphy spoke in their favor.
"Do these windows contribute to the historic character of the property?" Murphy asked. "They came from Poland with this group and they built this church in Baltimore. This church is an expression of a certain people at a certain point in time."
The friars hope to sell the church to the developers, who envision turning the building into a commercial or residential property. They did not offer more specific plans for how the church would be used.
Neiman argued that without removing the stained glass completely, the building would not be economically viable. And he said he can't move forward with the rest of the project until he knows for sure if he'll be able to do so.
Still, he said, he understands where the Polish congregants are coming from.
"There's too much emotion in those windows," he said. "There's value in these windows to these people that are here today - more than monetary value."
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Post by Bonobo on Sept 3, 2009 20:49:13 GMT 1
Sad day' for blind gran
69-year-old being deported to Poland after 11 years in Canada
By TOM GODFREY, SUN MEDIA
23rd August 2009
Aldona Pindiur tries to comfort her mother, Stefania Magdziak, yesterday. (VERONICA HENRI/Sun Media)
Aldona Pindiur tries to comfort her mother, Stefania Magdziak, yesterday. (VERONICA HENRI/Sun Media)
Blind granny Stefania Elzbieta Magdziak is being deported to Poland today, taking with her memories of her family and two suitcases -- all she has to show after living in Canada for 11 years.
A sobbing Magdziak, 69, was comforted by family members at her Etobicoke home yesterday as she packed her bags for the long flight home tonight. She is booked on a Polish airlines LOT flight from Pearson airport at 11 p.m.
"This is a very sad day for me," Magdziak said through her daughter, Aldona Pindiur, 43. "I already miss my children and grandchildren. "
Pindiur said her mom, who has two children and six grandchildren, is suffering from stress and other ailments brought on by the deportation.
'TOTALLY DEVASTATED'
"Everybody in the family is crying," she said yesterday. "We are totally devastated because no one will be there to help her."
Family members are concerned that there's little medical or social services available to help Magdziak's handicap in Poland. They said there's only one nurse to service thousands of sick in the area surrounding Ryn, where she lives.
Pindiur, and her brother, Miroslaw, arrived here in 1998 and applied to stay as landed immigrants and were accepted.
Magdziak joined them several months later as a visitor and never left. She blamed an unscrupulous immigration consultant for making her file a failed refugee claim, which under immigration laws, means she has to leave Canada or a warrant will be issued for her arrest.
She appealed to stay on humanitarian and compassionate grounds but that was refused.
Polish community member Ben Gondek said a neighbour will meet Magdziak in Warsaw and take her to Ryn, about 300 km north of Warsaw.
"She faces a new set of problems when she arrives," Gondek said. "There is a lack of services for the blind and handicapped in Poland."
'INHUMANE'
Gondek said Magdziak has to learn how to move around her new home and town when she returns. He said she'll probably have to wait years to get a seeing-eye dog.
Patrizia Giolti, of the Canada Border Services Agency, couldn't discuss the case due to privacy laws, but said everyone is given a hearing before they're ordered deported.
NDP immigration critic Olivia Chow, whose NDP leader husband Jack works with the blind, made several failed requests for immigration minister Jason Kenney to halt the removal on compassionate grounds.
"This is very sad and inhumane," Chow said. "There's no way a blind person should be deported from Canada."
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Post by Bonobo on Sept 3, 2009 20:51:36 GMT 1
Enjoying the harvest
Saturday, August 22, 2009
By JACKIE MAJERUS
New Britain (CT) Herald
NEW BRITAIN — A celebration of the harvest and the work that went into it, the Dozynki festival is a chance to see old friends, share a meal and honor Polish heritage.
"It's a yearly tradition, having an ice cold beer and Polish food," said Robert Martinchek of Newington, relaxing in the shade at Falcon Field Saturday afternoon. "Just like Grandma used to make."
Martinchek planned to return today with his teenage daughter, who loves to watch the dancing.
"People have a few of these and you see some pretty unique dancing out there," Martinchek said, noting the cans of Zywiec beer on the table.
While the crowds may come for the beer and the polka, the essence of the festival, however, is gratitude, said Lucian Pawlak, the festival emcee and a volunteer. He said the Mass that opens the festival is important.
Dozynki is a "1,000-year tradition," said Pawlak, a "celebration of a good harvest, thanking God for the nourishment He's provided us."
Polish Consul Przemyslaw Balcerzyk said he was on hand representing the Polish government and admiring how, even after many generations away from Poland, the people here "still stick to the tradition."
In Poland, where Dozynki has been a folk festival for people in the country, the festival isn't such a big deal in the cities anymore, according to Balcerzyk.
In Connecticut, like in the cities of Poland, most people aren't farming.
"When we get together, we celebrate the harvest of our rich Polish heritage," said Christopher Baran, festival chairman.
For some of the kids at Dozynki, the festival was about the fun.
Sara Adamczyk, 11, of New Britain, and her twin brother Patrick, said they like the food, but that the games are the best part.
While he likes to play on the soccer field, she said she enjoys the inflatable "jumping things," the dancers, music and the Mass.
Rushil Kamdar, 12, of New Britain, said he likes the pierogi.
"I come with my friends every year," said Kamdar, who said he also enjoys the inflatables and the giveaways at the sponsors' booths.
Manning a booth for the Polonia Business Association, attorney Adrian Baron offered candy, keychains and information about the 60 or more local businesses that have Polish-speaking people.
"I'm having fun," said Baron.
Nearby, Alphonse Wright of New Britain, working for Polaris Funding Group, said they'd had a flood of customers at their booth.
"It gives us an opportunity to get out and meet people in the community," said Wright. "It's no-pressure information. "
New Britain Mayor Tim Stewart, who said he gets his Polish ancestry from his mother, said the festival at Falcon Field is an annual event for him.
"We used to have picnics here every Sunday," Stewart said, adding that the field on Farmington Avenue abuts a heavily Polish neighborhood in town.
"I come here for the food, the Polish beer," said Stewart after downing a can of Zywiec. "It's not bad."
Ania Ulatowska of East Windsor, who was helping at the Baltic Restaurant's food booth, said so many customers were coming back for more that they ran out of food and had to get more from the Berlin restaurant.
She said hot sellers are potato pancakes and a dish called pyzy, which she said is mashed potatoes filled with pork and topped with fried onion and bacon.
"This is really delicious," she said.
Congressman Chris Murphy of Cheshire said Dozynki is a chance for him to celebrate his own Polish heritage.
"My grandparents came to New Britain from Poland," Murphy said. "This is a special day for me."
Murphy said he doesn't speak Polish, but that doesn't stop him from enjoying himself.
"My grandparents did not pass the language down to me, but they passed the food," said Murphy. "I'm a sucker for the pierogi. These festivals are always an excuse to bring home a couple extra bags."
But plenty of those attending the festival, including 22-year-old Magdalena Slysz of Farmington, are fluent in Polish.
Slysz credited her parents, who are Polish immigrants, and weekly Polish school as a child for the gift of language.
"I'm proud to be able to speak Polish," Slysz said. She has visited Poland and has many family members there.
After years of attending the festival with her family, Slysz glittered in a tiara and gown this year as the reigning Miss Polonia 2009.
A business student at Central Connecticut State University, Slysz said the festival honors farming, which she said is deeply ingrained in her culture.
Dozynki is "a celebration of hard work" and the fruits of that labor, Slysz said. "It's a big tradition."
Put on by the Polish American Council of Greater New Britain, this year's festival was dedicated in remembrance of the 70th anniversary of Nazi Germany's attack on Poland, and to veterans of World War II, both living and dead.
State Sen. Don DeFronzo of New Britain said the fact that the festival was dedicated to WWII veterans was fitting.
State Rep. Tim O'Brien of New Britain said he's proud that the "wonderful celebration of Polish culture" that is the Dozynki festival was happening here in town.
The festival cost about $17,000, said Baran, who said it was tougher this year to get sponsors than in the past. Key sponsors this year were Farmington Savings Bank and Webster Bank.
The festival also counts on income from the bar and parking fees to defray costs.
The festival continues today with the Johnny Prytko polka band at 1 p.m. and the contemporary To My band at 5 p.m. Closing ceremonies begin at 9:30 p.m.
Baran said the polka band will likely pack in a crowd.
"Out-of-towners storm in," Baran said, for the music.
Baran has been attending the festival every year since he was a kid. He said as long as he's around, he'll help make it happen.
"People come here and they really have a good time," said Baran, seeing friends they haven't seen in months or even years. "If this ever fell apart, I'd be deeply distressed."
There is no admission fee for the festival. Parking is $3 per vehicle.
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