8 NOVEMBER 29, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Ridgewood mourns homeless
man who froze to death
BY MARK HALLUM
MHALLUM@CNGLOCAL.COM
Arkadiusz Jasinski, aff ectionately
known by the community
as Arek, was remembered
at a Ridgewood vigil as a respectful,
down-on-his-luck construction trade
worker by the ministry that often
serviced him.
The Nov. 23 vigil at Forest and
Putnam Avenues was attended by
members of the 104th Precinct, the
104th Precinct Civilian Observation
Patrol and All Saints Catholic Church
leaders who recognized the struggle
of the homeless Polish immigrant
who froze to death during the Nov. 15
snowstorm.
“We really feel that there’s a crisis
right now, in Ridgewood particularly,
not only with the visible street
homeless but with the seniors who
are being displaced. Gentrifi cation is
causing a lot of people to not be able
to aff ord apartments anymore,” Father
Mike Lopez of All Saints said. “One of
the interesting issues with men like
Arek and the other Polish and eastern
European men who are homeless in
Ridgewood is that they at one point
lived there. They have a desire to stay
in the community that they know.”
Jasinski moved to New York about
20 years ago to work in construction,
according to Lopez, and six years ago
he hit some bumps in the road and
ended up on the street.
A single man with no children, Jasinski
had always planned to return to
Poland where his mother lives and All
Saints had worked with the consulate
to get him a Polish passport to facilitate
his plans.
“He was hoping to eventually make
his way back to Poland,” Lopez said.
“he was a rather interesting character.
He oft en would tell people he was a
Polish guy and that he didn’t speak a
lot of English. He didn’t really cause
much trouble ... He was a very respectful
guy.”
All Saints and nearby St. Matthias
Roman Catholic Church, both of which
work together to deliver services to
homeless in the community, have provided
showers, meals and clothing to
Jasinski for at least three years.
Jasinski was also hospitalized a
number of times and the two churches
had helped him with his healthcare
needs, according to Lopez.
“We felt that it was importantly fi rst
and foremost to memorialized Arek,
and secondly to bring awareness to
our community that there’s a crisis
and we need to be more proactive to
helping to fi nd a solution as a whole,”
Lopez said. “Our local elected offi cials
aren’t doing anything in regards to
local homelessness.”
Lopez claims opposition to homeless
shelters in neighborhoods across the
city sparks the kind of mentality that
leads men like Jasinski to die in the
streets.
Councilman Robert Holden’s proposition
to use local religious centers
to take on homeless individuals is a
viable option for protecting people
on the street from suff ering the same
fate as Jasinski.
“We need to do a better job collectively,”
Lopez concluded. “A number
of people would have passed by him
that morning, it was the morning
aft er the storm so I’m sure people
would have noticed that he was wet
and freezing in that weather, and
nobody called 911.”
It was not until around 9 a.m. on Nov.
16 that a 911 caller reported Jasinski’s
condition to NYPD and EMS who
declared the 44-year-old dead at the
scene in front of 66-95 Forest Ave.
According to Lopez, whose church
does homeless outreach via the Hungry
Monk Rescue Truck, said there are
about 20 to 30 visible street homeless
people in the greater Ridgewood area
as well as some who come from Brooklyn
for services.
Photos by Dean Moses
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