Greenpoint Tales

One of my students, in particular, stood out with exceptional progress. Jola was doing so well that I advised her to take singing lessons and then asked her to marry me. I didn't want her to surpass me in virtuosity. Fortunately, she became a great doctor. She died two years ago.

I was 13 years old and spoke some British English. It was not enough in Brooklyn. My Mom sent me to the school run by nuns, who were quite stern, and corrected me sharply. "You are in America; you are not Maria, you are Mary."

The mother-in-law came in and started yelling at my husband. She called him a moron and told him to fix everything immediately. She also called the woman. She yelled that by Saturday (it was Sunday) the woman should get out of the United States, and that she must return to Poland. Otherwise, the mother-in-law would shoot her.

I woke up in the hospital. I was afraid to look at the place where my hand had been before. Eventually, I looked, and I was very happy because it turned out that it was still there, sewn up. I had neither legal residency nor insurance, I was working illegally, but at the hospital, they didn't investigate.

I am proud of who I am, I spend every summer in Poland. I like the Polish diligence. and striving for a goal. Look at Greenpoint, how the living standards have gone up. Poles are prosperous: it's not just asbestos and cleaning. I like the Polish sense of humor and laid-back attitude.

I discovered Greenpoint in constant amazement: all those butcher and delicatessen shops where you can buy food for pennies, seven bookstores, including four on one street, drunkards gathering at the stairs to the Subway, a real haberdashery shop run by two sisters, a shop with the inscription 'Wedel.'

This neighborhood is changing before my eyes. Americans move here, and children of Polish migrants feel proud that they come from Greenpoint, and this was not always the case. This district is becoming the most expensive and attractive place in New York!

How did we conquer Greenpoint? By international approach and elegance. There were a lot of eateries, i.e., bars, in the district. You went straight to the cash register, then the lady from the window shouted: 'Schabowy!'. Men ate at these places and then went to the bar or the liquor store for alcohol.