Country/corresponding immigrant community:
Poland
How many live in the US? In the tristate area? How many in the home country?
According to the US Census (2000), there are 8,977,235 Polish Americans in the US. In the tri-state area, there are approximately 1,846,886 Polish Americans. The current population of Poland in 2020 is 37,846,611 according to the United Nations data.
In the tristate area, where do they live?
According to Untapped, Greenpoint, Brooklyn is home to the second-largest concentration of Polish immigrants in the United States. In New York City Williamsburg, Maspeth, and Ridgewood are also home to Polish communities. While Wallington in Bergen County, New Jersey contains the state’s highest percentage of Polish Americans.
What jobs do a significant percentage of them have?
When Polish immigrants originally came to the United States the majority of them were taking opportunities in unskilled manual labor. Dominating fields such as mining, meatpacking, construction, and steelwork. Today the average incomes have increased from below average to above average while expanding into white-collar professional and managerial roles. While many still hold positions in blue-collar construction and trade jobs.
Why did they come? When?
Polish immigrants came to the United States in a few different waves. The first and smallest taking place between 1800 to 1860 were Poles fleeing after the partitioning of their country. The second wave occurred between 1860 and WWI in which immigrants were in search of a better economic life. The second wave brought many Poles to industrial cities which allocates for the major of Polish immigrants working manual labor jobs. The third wave happened after WWI through the cold war which was comprised of political refugees. Currently, we are seeing a rising number of younger Polish immigrants fleeing Poland’s harsh right-wing government.
What are some major organizations/advocacy groups/resources in this community?
In Greenpoint, they have the Polish & Slavic Center which is a non-profit and cultural services organization founded in 1972. They pride themselves on serving the community without engaging itself politically. The center provides extended social services free of charge such as public housing, varying benefit programs, union pension, to name a few. The center also has recreation activity clubs and computer courses.
Do they have local media house/s? If so, list them.
There is the Nowy Dziennik which is a Polish-language daily newspaper that is published in NYC six days a week, they also have a website.
List/link the major media houses in the home country.
- https://www.gazeta.pl/0,0.html
- https://www.wykop.pl
- https://wyborcza.pl/0,0.html?disableRedirects=true
- https://natemat.pl
- https://wpolityce.pl
How strong are relationships with the home country? How significant are remittances to the home country’s economy?
According to the Congressional Research Service, the relationship between the United States and Poland have been typically close and cooperative. Remittances sent back to Poland have boosted their economy.
In the homeland what is the GDP per capita? Where does that rank in the world? What are the major industries?
According to US News, the GDP per capita of Poland is $32,005 with an overall rank of #34 in 2019. According to Industry Europe, the largest industries in Poland are agriculture, manufacturing, energy, and tourism industries.
What is the system of government? When did this system come into place? Was there a colonial power? (Or was it the colonial power?)
The Government of Poland is a unitary semi-presidential republic, meaning the President is head of state and the Prime minister is the head of the government. The current system of government is held in place by the 1997 constitution of Poland. Poland has never had any formal colonial territories or power.
Name of the NY consul general. How long has he/she been in the role?
Adrian Kubicki, I believe he has been in this role since 2018…
Give three potential story ideas. (Doesn’t need to be a fully fleshed-out pitch yet, but should be well-thought-out.)
- I would like to do a photojournalism story on Greenpoint documenting how recent gentrification has pushed the original polish community out and shut down many businesses. I could interview business owners and members of the Polish community to identify how gentrification has affected them.
- A feature piece on the Polish & Slavic Center and how they give back to the community. I also find it particularly interesting they are nonpolitical when Poland is run by such a strictly right-wing government so I would like to find out more about that.
- A piece on what is happening to the LGBTQ+ community in Poland right now and the recent protests. I would like to interview Polish individuals in New York to get their opinions on how their government is handling it. I do know people with family in Poland so it would be interesting to also speak with individuals experiencing it first-hand.
Interview
I am currently still working on getting in contact with a Polish community leader. I would like to speak with someone from the Polish & Slavic center to find out more about the community in Greenpoint. I would also like to speak to one of the individuals who participated in the NYC protest outside the Polish consul in solidarity.