The following is an op-ed by Greenpoint resident Konstancja Maleszyńska, reflecting on the defacing of a public monument in McCarren Park.
Restoring Dignity
On May 3rd, Poland’s Constitution Day, the monument to Father Jerzy Popiełuszko at a square by McCarren Park was vandalized – the pedestal was covered with trash and the head was bound with a plastic bag. The words ‘No Polish’ were also written on it. The New York City Police Department…
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I am a little late to thank you for this excellent article about Father Jerzy Popieluszko. Though I am not Polish I did follow the history of the Solidarity Movement and its leader Lech Wałęsa, who subsequently became president of the new democratic Poland.
I live a few blocks away from the triangle park where Father Jerzy’s statue has been erected at the corner of Nassau and Bedford streets. I passed in front of the park daily and as I am a kind of gardener I trimmed the semi abandoned rosebushes behind the statue. One of them produced magnificent yellow roses that I offer to our saintly man.
Yes, his statue was desecrated but not his life at the moment this ignorant person threw trash and covered his face with a plastic bag the was it is done when people are tortured. It is a very evil act, yes! We do not judge the person who did this despicable act but the act itself is evil.
So we go on venerating him as we pass by, sit and pray in this park, dear Holy Jerzy Popieluszko. Please intercede for us and protect us from evil, as we pray for peace in Eastern Europe and in the world. Amen.