{"id":300595,"date":"2026-07-20T14:17:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T14:17:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/300595\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T14:17:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T14:17:10","slug":"father-jerzy-popieluszko-square-in-a-state-of-neglect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/300595\/","title":{"rendered":"Father Jerzy Popieluszko Square: In a State of Neglect"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"\"\"A bench in Father Jerzy Popieluszko Square contains the belongings of a homeless person who appears to have left them behind. (Photos: Paula Katinas)<\/p>\n

GREENPOINT \u2014 Blessed\u00a0Father Jerzy Popieluszko\u00a0was a hero during the Solidarity movement against\u00a0communism in Poland in the 1980s, but\u00a0there is\u00a0nothing heroic about\u00a0the\u00a0city\u2019s neglect of\u00a0a\u00a0Brooklyn park named\u00a0in his honor,\u00a0residents and\u00a0civic leaders said.<\/p>\n

Father Jerzy Popieluszko Square, a 3,000-square-foot green space at 33 Nassau Avenue \u2014 meant to serve as a small, quiet oasis of greenery \u2014 has turned into a litter-filled, graffiti-scarred space with overgrown weeds and vagrants hanging out all hours of the day and night, said Marek Skulimowski, president of the Kosciuszko<\/a> Foundation, a Polish civic organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever I am there, I am stunned to see the condition it is in,\u201d said Skulimowski, who added that it\u2019s an ongoing problem. \u201cLetting this square fill with trash, graffiti, and overgrown bushes is not an oversight. It is a demonstration of the city\u2019s indifference to our history.\u201d<\/p>\n

From time to time, students from local Polish cultural schools in the traditionally Polish community<\/a> of Greenpoint participate in cleanups of the square, Skulimowski said.\u00a0
\u201cThis is not\u00a0the responsibility\u00a0of\u00a0volunteers\u00a0or the people who live in the neighborhood. The city should be doing regular cleaning and\u00a0gardening\u00a0there,\u201d he added. \u201cThey need to stay on top of it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Tablet visited Father Jerzy Popieluszko Square on the afternoon of July 16, and while there were no vagrants at the time in the nearly empty space, there was clothing and other items haphazardly tossed next to one of the benches. There was also trash on the square\u2019s grassy area.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m most definitely concerned about the condition of the park,\u201d said Liz Rose<\/p>\n

Schneider, who\u00a0was sitting on a bench near the square\u2019s Nassau Avenue entrance that afternoon,\u00a0taking a break from work.\u00a0
We do have some beautiful sculptures here, but because of the weeds, you\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0really enjoy them,\u201d\u00a0she said. \u201cThere are weeds everywhere.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Blessed Father Popieluszko (1947-1984) was a Catholic priest who spoke out against the Communist government and publicly sided with\u00a0factory workers\u00a0and\u00a0shipbuilders in\u00a0Warsaw\u00a0when they went on strike\u00a0in\u00a0the early 1980s\u00a0to protest living conditions.\u00a0He\u00a0defied\u00a0the government and crossed barricades to administer communion to the striking workers.<\/p>\n

He was\u00a0also\u00a0known as a charismatic speaker who delivered passionate\u00a0homilies\u00a0at Masses.<\/p>\n

Blessed Father Popieluszko\u00a0was kidnapped by\u00a0members of the\u00a0Polish\u00a0Security\u00a0Service (a Communist counter-intelligence agency)\u00a0who\u00a0killed him\u00a0and dumped his body\u00a0in a reservoir.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"The condition of the small park is a source of concern to park users, who say trash on the grass is an eyesore.<\/p>\n

An estimated\u00a01 million people\u00a0attended his funeral, including Lech Walesa, the leader of the Solidarity freedom movement and the country\u2019s future president.<\/p>\n

New York City dedicated Father Jerzy Popieluszko Square in 1985, a year after his assassination,\u00a0and erected a monument to him in\u00a01990.<\/p>\n

Father Popieluszko was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI<\/a> in 2010, earning him the title of blessed.<\/p>\n

The condition of\u00a0the\u00a0square named in his honor is\u00a0not\u00a0a recent problem. In 2021, The Tablet\u00a0reported on vandalism in the square. Vandals poured garbage at the base of the monument, covered the priest\u2019s statue with a plastic\u00a0bag,\u00a0and scrawled \u201cNo Polish\u201d on the monument. The area was\u00a0cleaned,\u00a0but the vandals were\u00a0never\u00a0caught.<\/p>\n

Councilmember Lincoln\u00a0Restler, who\u00a0represents\u00a0the area,\u00a0said he shares the concerns\u00a0about the sloppiness of the square\u00a0named after the hero priest.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has\u00a0frustrated\u00a0me for\u00a0years\u00a0that the conditions\u00a0haven\u2019t met our\u00a0expectations,\u201d\u00a0he\u00a0said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After\u00a0recent\u00a0media\u00a0reports\u00a0pointed out the square\u2019s sorry condition,\u00a0Restler\u00a0said he\u00a0contacted the\u00a0city\u2019s\u00a0Department of Parks and Recreation\u00a0and convinced the agency to visit the site.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m\u00a0really grateful\u00a0that the Parks Department has\u00a0significantly\u00a0increased\u00a0its\u00a0maintenance and cleaning work at Father\u00a0Popieluszko\u00a0Square.\u00a0We\u2019re\u00a0also partnering with\u00a0a few\u00a0community groups\u00a0that have been doing\u00a0cleanup events,\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0Restler, who added that a volunteer cleanup is scheduled for\u00a0Sunday, July 26.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really hopeful that the Parks Department, our neighbors and our community volunteers are collectively stepping up to help us improve the conditions once and for\u00a0all,\u201d\u00a0Restler\u00a0said.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s Parks Department did not respond to The Tablet\u2019s request for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A bench in Father Jerzy Popieluszko Square contains the belongings of a homeless person who appears to have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":300596,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-300595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=300595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/300595\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/300596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=300595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=300595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=300595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}