Homeless Poles in NYC

Sad.

Nothing new. For example I've read in Glowacki's book about how Polish people end up as homeless in the USA. Basicly it's such pattern: they work illegally without medical cover for 12 hours or more a day, scrimping all precious cents. After some time they are on verge of nervous breakdown (wife in Poland has a lover etc.), fall victim of some scammers or meet with the accident, so they eventually break down and turn into alcohol drinking up all the money they have scrimped so scrupulously. The next step is being homeless.

Very sad indeed. Noticed they were of various ages. Hats off to the lady who distributed clothing & shoes, in order to help them.

You should go there and see it for yourself.

Sad, but in NYC there are homeless people from everywhere.. I know a Jewish guy in Manhattan, he used to be rich and for some reason,

he lost all his money and now you see him begging on the street..So it can happen to anybody.

Try walking around central London after about 10:00 pm you'll see hundreds of homeless Poles. Its quite amazing to actually see the amount of homeless people in London, sleeping all over the place.

i also have it on good authority that the UK mental institutions have seen a massive increase in Polish patients, many seem to be the ones that cant make a living in the UK and lose the plot.

When I was a teen and in my early twenties, London was full of homeless Irish.
Wrapped up in old cardboard under Charing Cross Bridge.
Now it seems to be mainly Poles.

I always thought that this song should be translated in to Polish, as it has relevance today to Polish people.


Chicken or egg.

Could some not make it because they had metal difficulties or do some have mental difficulties because they can't make it?

Loneliness can be psychologically crippling .

If that spot still exists i should imagine they dont have any current vacancies.


I'd say more likley the latter, desperate Poles coming to the country to end up at the bottom, no money to go back to Poland and in many cases nothing to go back to anyway. Rock bottom....

Lyrics from the song I just posted:

Only if you will fix me a visa.

I'm not sure what did you mean by the above comment but mind that my English is flawed. I'm sorry if what I have written sounded uncompassionate, that certainly wasn't my intention.

You need to apply


No need to apologize. Your English is much better than my Polish. No, you didn't sound uncompassionate, you're only guilty of taking someone's word for it.

thanks sean, thats a beutifull sad song, i really like the sound of irish folk music for some reason, any other recomendations?

All I see there is advanced alcoholism. There might be few exceptions, but they are rare.
And you have to be a saint to offer shelter to a dedicated alcoholic.

And I'll never go home now because of the shame
Of misfit's reflection in a shop window pane......................great line.
The song is relevant to all, who leave their homes in search of work.


Pretty much.................My wife's an ER nurse in a busy metropolitan hospital just outside New York City. I can count on her calling me at home at least twice a week to interpret for the medical staff whenever a Pole ends up being brought there. Mostly it's for being drunk. Sometimes it's for jobsite accidents. The most pathetic being this one guy from Lublin area. He was a day-worker for some Latino construction company (those of you living in the States will easily see the irony in this). He had the misfortune of falling off the roof and breaking a few ribs. He spoke no English, hence the call to me. Turns out he's been in country for 8 years alone; has no address, no insurance, nothing. No one from the jobsite accompanied him................I speak to these guys about 6-8 times a month. I ask them all why they don't go back to Poland and they all say they have nothing to go back to. It's a very sad situation.

certainly looked like those dudes could knock back a few beers.

you could try ride on by christy or Delirium Tremens

youtube.com/watch?v=Vl1NQi_Vit0

Raggle Taggle gypsy
youtube.com/watch?v=kOBCX0T6JsA

But the guy in the video acknoledged he has a drink problem.
Of course for many of you it means they deserve nothing but contempt...

I know of some hostles in Dublin and London that allow drink to be consumed in there rooms as long as they do not start fights or get disruptive. I think a lot more work needs to be done to get these people off alcohol and fill there days with activities that fill there day's. If you are on the streets, it is so boring, so you are going to start abusing what ever you can that makes you feel better for a short time.

A person living on a street that has a drink problem is not different to a person that lives in a apartment that is downing just as much alcohol. The person in the apartment could end up on the street within a couple of monhts.

possibly but not for me.
It runs pretty deep on my father's side.

In my opinion those guys should scrunge up some cash for an old RV and go bug it out in Florida, Cali or Arizona. Forget cold nasty NYC.

They could thumb it to Cali & squat somewhere, like Slab City. They'd need to be able to communicate in English well enough to do so. Gets hot as hell there in the summer too.

In time they'd need some source of valid income. Charity only goes so far...

In life for various reasons people can find themselves in these situations. I believe that people need a hand-up and not just a hand-out.
Unfortunately, the USA is a country that promises a lot but offers very little. It doesn't matter whether you're Polish, Mexican or 'American' the govt and society will sh*t all over you.

Being homeless in such a country cannot be much fun for anyone, especially in NYC.
Personally, I think it's a shame that people would rather bash these people than be half a human being and empathise a little...

lol I also heard if you go to a shelter they try to steal the sneakers that one is wearing if one falls asleep!Thats why most like not to go there.

you must be speaking of yourself.
I have helped, and housed, many alcoholics. They ran a whole gamut from functioning alcoholics, through the ones in denial, to those that have given up or made a decision to drink themselves to death.

All I was pointing out is that the ones in a video had more needs than just a shelter.

What are you talking about? You must not be from America. What it it promising you?