COMMUNITY
4
THE NATIONAL HERALD, JULY 2-8, 2011
AHEPA’s Karacostas Honored in his Home Town, Mr. James Poll Too
By Dimitris Tsakas and
Constantine S. Sirigos
TNH Staff Wrtiers
NEW YORK – AHEPA’s Supreme
President Nicholas Karacostas
has left his mark in his home
town of New York, across the
country, and into Greece during
his tenure, which will end next
month when the organization
selects a new leader at its convention in Miami Beach, but his
work hasn’t gone unnoticed.
The Terrace on the Park in
Flushing, scene of many Greek
American affairs through the
years, was overflowing with
love, appreciation and good will
for a testimonial dinner in his
honor on June 25. The event
was hosted by AHEPA’s Empire
State District 6 and the Gus
Chervas Estia-Pindus Chapter
326 Karacostas was a member
of for 25 years.
Archbishop Demetrios of
America was present, as were
Greece’s Consul General in New
York, Ambassador Aghi Balta,
and the Consul General of
Cyprus Koula Sofianou to laud
Karacostas’ work in behalf of
Hellenism, Greece and Cyrpus
and the Orthodox faith, and his
commitment to unity in the
Greek American Community.
Also present were the Ppresident of the Federation of Greek
Societies of Greater New York
Elias Tsekeridis, President of the
Federation of Hellenic American
Societies of Philadelphia and the
Greater Delaware Valley G. Horiates, and AHEPA delegations
from Canada and other regions.
They included the President of
the Maids of Athena Kiki Amanatidis, President of the Sons of
Pericles Spiro Nicolopoulos,
President of the Daughters of
Penelope Christina K. Constantine and Past Supreme President
and current Chairman of the
Board Franklin Manios and the
Supreme Vice President Dr.
John Grossomanides, Jr.
Outgoing District Governor
Jimmy Kokotas and Jimmy
Gounaris were Co-chairmen.
Gounaris is a past District Governor and Supreme Governor
and also was the MC for the
event which took the place of
the Grand Banquet of the annual district convention which
conducted its business at the
Queens, N.Y. facilityy prior to
the dinner. The national dimension lent by Karacostas’ presence
created the opportunity for New
Yorkers to come out and honor
distinguished businessman and
restaurateur James Poll who received the AHEPA Lifetime
Achievement Award which is
usually presented at the organizations national convention,
which will be held this year at
the Fountainebleau Hotel in Miami July 18-24.
The President of PSEKA,
Philip Christopher, who was
asked to introduce the honoree,
spoke extensively about Karacostas’ life and service to the
community and work on the
Cypriot and other community issues, which Karacostas emphasized during his acceptance
speech. Christopher praised
Karacostas as the personification
of the Greek American dream
and declared that he was one of
the most successful Supreme
Presidents in recent decades.
Karacostas and his team have
been widely credited both within
and outside AHEPA with great
success in the continuing efforts
to renew the organization that
was founded in 1929. Kokotas
said of the Cyprus-born Supreme
President that, “He is as good a
leader as we’ve had in the organization. He has taken us to to-
TNH/COSTAS BEJ
Renowned restaurateur James Poll (R) receives the AHEPA Lifetime Achievement Award from
the organization’s Supreme President and fellow New Yorker Nicholas Karacostas at a ceremony.
tally new levels. He has raised
the bar and promoted the organization nationally and internationally,” and specifically cites
the 30,000 names they have
gathered for a petition that calls
for progress in the rebuilding of
the Church of St. Nicholas at
Ground Zero. “He is a tremendous Ambassador for the organization and people respect and
love him dearly,” Kokotas said,
adding that “He will be difficult
to replace but we have good
people running (for offices again
this year.) We are growing but
we need even more young professional to join our ranks.”
As active as Karacostas has
been in the Community – his service extends to the Church and
other community organizations
as a member of the board of
HANAC and the St. Michael's
Home, as a Parish Council member of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Flushing, and
Legal Advisor to the Pancyprian
Association of America - he told
The National Herald he does not
like to seek the spotlight or accolades. He said the experience
at the dinner was humbling, but
admitted that he “truly enjoyed
the outpouring of love and support from the AHEPA family and
members of the community. It
was an honor to serve during
the past two years,” – he was
elected to two consecutive
terms,” he said it was “a bigger
honor to be acknowledged.” He
said he was proud to have been
Supreme President in 2010
when Greece was accepted into
the State Department’s visa
waiver program that allows its
citizens to travel to America
without a visa, the culmination
of years of AHEPA efforts. Karacostas in turn was pleased to
present AHEPA’s Lifetime
Achievement Award to the 91
year-old Poll, who has been a
member for 70 years but whose
experience with the Order goes
back even further. In 1928,
when he was eight years old, the
AHEPA had its first excursion to
Greece. He recalled that everyone traveled on the French liner
S.S. Sinia and that the natives
didn’t know what to make of this
mass of Greeks returning from
America as they paraded from
Omonia to Syntagma Square in
Athens - 400 men wearing bright
red fezes. “Are they Turks?” he
said some Athenians wondered.
One Athens paper claimed to
have investigated the organization and discovered the meaning
of its strange name. They declared it was an acronym in
Greek for “Unwed widows, come
and find husbands.”
Poll’s mother was from Constantinople and his father – his
original name was Papadopoulos – from nearby Adrianople in
Eastern Thrace. He was born in
Manhattan’s long-gone Greek
Town on 40th Street and attended the High School of Commerce. He thrived in the shipping business, but when it
slumped around 1960 he had to
find a new career, so he opened
the successful Pappas restaurant
in Sheepshead Bay Brooklyn. He
ran it for 10 years until he lost
his lease to the powerful Lundy
brothers who owned much of
the seaside’s neighborhood’s
prime real estate, but then
opened the famous Casino Rus
Russian nightclub in Manhattan.
His son Dean now operates
prominent metropolitan area
restaurants such as the Central
Park Boathouse. The convention’s business covered various
organizational issues, outreach,
the development of leaders
among the younger generation
and the preservation of Greek
traditions and Hellenic identity.
New leaders were elected to
take office July 1, led by Christos Gallis, from Brooklyn, who
was elected District Governor,
Lt. Gov. Mike Papafotis; Secretary, Paris Karounos; Treasurer,
Peter Vasilakos; Marshal, former
assemblyman Matthew Mirones;
Warden, Paul Makropoulos.
Gay Marriage in New York Still Divisive Topic, Greek Lawmakers Split
Continued from page 1
time for marriage equality.” Opponents said they did not see
the law as an inevitable and just
expansion of civil rights, but as
a “redefinition” of marriage that
threatens an institution vital to
social stability.
The issue of “choice” is one
of the elements at the heart of
differences over the law, governing opinions such as those in
the Greek American Community
which range from support, to
concern which can border on
outrage among some adherents
of the Orthodox faith. The
Church condemns same sex
unions. On June 29 the Archdiocese reiterated the Standing
Conference of the Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas
(SCOBA’s) 2003 statement on
the subject: “As members of the
Standing Conference of the
Canonical Orthodox Bishops in
the Americas representing more
than 5 million Orthodox Christians in the United States,
Canada and Mexico, we are
deeply concerned about recent
developments regarding “same
sex unions. The Orthodox Christian teaching on marriage and
sexuality...holds that marriage
consists in the conjugal union
of a man and a woman, and that
authentic marriage is blessed by
God as a sacrament of the
Church. Neither Scripture nor
Holy Tradition blesses or sanctions such a union between persons of the same sex.”
SCOBA also declared, “This
being said, however, we must
stress that persons with a homosexual orientation are to be
AP PHOTO/MARK LENNIHAN
Carmela Kenney arranges a bridal veil for a same-sex pair of mannequins in the window of Sposabella Couture, June 27, in Brooklyn. New York businesses that cater to the wedding and honeymoon trade are hoping for an economic jolt from the passage of the same-sex marriage law.
cared for with the same mercy
and love that is bestowed by our
Lord Jesus Christ upon all of humanity.” The issue, though
rarely addressed at Greek American gatherings, has occasionally
prompted heated discussions at
lectures sponsored by local
churches. At the June 26 annual
gay pride parade that became a
celebration of the law, The Associated Press spoke to two
Greek Americans who were
thrilled over the development:
“John Haracopos wore a T-shirt
that declared, ‘Some dudes
marry other dudes. Get over it.’
“We got married in the oldest
church in Paris. And it was just
us and God,” said Haracopos, a
46-year-old hair stylist. Still, the
pair plans to hold another ceremony in New York to ensure
their relationship is fully recognized by the law. His partner
(is) Peter Marinos, a 59-yearold Broadway actor.”
N.Y. State Majority Leader
Dean Skellos sent this statement
to TNH: “When a bill to legalize
same sex marriage in New York
was brought to the floor of the
State Senate, I voted ‘no’ because I continue to believe in
traditional marriage between
one man and one woman. My
Senate Republican colleagues
and I also insisted that amendments be made to the Governor’s original bill in order to protect the rights of religious
institutions and not-for-profits
with religious affiliations … as
legislators we are elected to debate public policy and make difficult decisions on bills.” Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas, a
devout Orthodox Christian,
voted ‘yes’ and stressed the law
merely allows couples to request
a civil wedding. “The only entity
the law affects is N.Y. State,”
adding that the original language did protect religious organizations, but she accepted
the changes to ensure its passage. Simotas believes the law
is “A step forward with respect
to persona freedoms.” She noted
that in 1967 the US Supreme
Court, in Loving v. Virginia, recognized the right to marry as an
individual, personal right. Like
many of her colleagues, she acknowledged it was a difficult decision but said “Although my
faith directs my moral compass,
its also motivates my desire to
give back and contribute to society,” adding that just as she
advocates strongly for religious
freedom for the Ecumenical Patriarachate, she advocates for
the analogous personal freedoms for individuals and respects their conscience.
Republican Assemblywoman
Nicole Malliotakis told The National Herald that, “as a person
of Greek Orthodox faith I don’t
agree with altering the existing
definition of marriage,” and
noted that the majority of the
communications she received
urged her to vote no. She admitted however, “I had a difficult time with it. Many of my
colleagues agonized over it. I
am happy with the protection
in the final bill for religious or-
ganizations.”
Perry N. Halkitis, PhD, an Associate Dean for Research and
Doctoral Studies Professor of Applied Psychology and Public
Health at NYU, said he and his
partner have been actively involved in efforts to pass the law
and he has donated to groups
such as Freedom to Marry. He
also said that “I wanted personally to respect religious traditions … and the amendments religious groups called for were
worth it if they enable the bill to
be passed. I see it as a civil right,
a right for all people in the U.S.
to have equal protection under
the law.” And so it goes, the
questions surrounding sexuality
and preferences, some 2,400
years after the Greek sage
Socrates, or at least the words
Plato expressed through him,
stimulated many of the great discussions - from science to ethics
to art - that shaped Western Civilization. In the great dialogue,
the Symposium, sexuality is the
topic of a deep discussion.
Plato’s Symposium contributed
to the philosophy of art and even
religious mysticism. Parts of the
dialogue delved into human sexuality. The playwright Aristophanes’ description of original
humans being cut in two by angry gods is the source of the romantic notion that everyone is
searching for their other half.
The dialogue suggests that the
sexual orientation on human beings is innate, and not the result
of choices. Now, as supporters
of gay marriage might say, people finally know.
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Ashford’s Key to Greece: A New Euro Rising
Continued from page 1
tugal, Ireland, Italy and even the
United Kingdom are in the same
position but it is not just as bad.”
He said there is a comparative
scenario in the U.S.
“Yes we are in similar position, in a sense the Greeks are
better off, because a higher percentage of them own their own
homes. Here, everybody has a
mortgage and they are going to
lose their home. In Greece families help each other; if a brother
loses his job, they have a family
support system; but the people
do not have that here. The social
network in Greece prevents the
problem from being worse than
it is.”
As for the closed professions,
he said the law allows them a
guaranteed 35% profit and they
should be opened, although
Prime Minister George Papandreou’s Administration has done
so only for some, but not those
with powerful interests, such as
lawyers, architects and engineers. “These measures are special favors, legal or illegal, for
selected groups of the society
who do not have a collective
sense of responsibility towards
other people.”
What does he foresee for the
Greek economy over the next
three to five years? “Greece can
benefited if it is careful to increase tourism which brings
money in. Secondly, it is quite
possible that all of the counties,
which are in economic situations, join a second euro, which
floats against the first euro. I
think there will be a movement
to have all of the southern countries joined a second currency
called Euro Two. It will be impossible for Greece to go back
to the drachma because the European Union will not allow that
to happen.”
Who is putting pressure on
Greece? “The people who have
its debt, that is the French and
Germans. At the end of the day
they will prefer to lose money
from their investments, to allow
that to happen.”
Ashford suggested that,
“Greece
should
increase
tourism. Also, I think they
should increase the number of
universities, so the students who
leave Greece and take all thismoney to England or to the
United States will stay in Greece
to create jobs for Greek intellectuals. The university system is a
key to Greece’s survival.” Greece
does not recognize private universities nor allow its graduates
to work in public positions, in
violation of EU law, but Ashford
said more are needed, public or
private. “It doesn’t really matter;
the Socialists say that every student has the right to free education but they do not have the
universities to provide it.” He
said Prime Minister Papandreou
“is missing an enormous opportunity to increase Greek Educational Institutions; education is
the most worthy investment of
the future and Greece needs to
have more universities and it
also needs to enforce environmental laws so the environment
is not compromised.”
He said: “Greece has three
most commercial and valuable
commodities: culture, smart
people and a beautiful environment.” Speaking about his
Greek heritage he said, “I am
proud to be Greek. I wouldn’t
be anything else.” He said Hellenism means to him “deep serious interest of ideas and dialogue, which almost don’t exist
anywhere else.” He said he
thinks that the international
press “has done injustice to
Greece. They have never taken
Greece’s side on any issue that
you possibly can imagine. The
Germans control the media and
they tell the one side of the
story. When they said that the
Greeks should sell their islands,
they better pay the war reparations. As far as the British are
concerned, they already have
taken the Elgin marbles. Why
they do not pay for them?”
He said Europe is in a better
position than the U.S. for the
next decade. “I find Europe
much more likely to become
sustainable than the United
States; we are in greater danger
here than they are in Europe because here the private sector exercises such enormous power on
government; in Germany they
have houses that don’t use energy; they cannot fire workers,
so they do not have unemployment; in Germany, Norway,
Denmark and even Holland, the
center of gravity and the movement in Europe is for greater
and greater social security.” As
for gas prices, he said: “I am in
favor of increasing the price of
energy, but not as a profit to the
oil companies but as a carbon
tax that the government can use
to create more independent oil
sources. I will be happy to pay
$8 dollars a gallon if $4 dollars
Greek American scholar Nicholas Askounis-Ashford, of Harvard
University’s School of Public Health and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology believes that Greece would benefit from more
educational institutions, tourism and greater respect for ecology.
of that went to renewable resources, not to the petroleum
companies.” He also said, “The
American real economy is not
doing well, people are losing
their jobs; house values continue to go down. I talked to
some people who really feel that
housing prices will fall another
15%. The banks are holding
houses which are foreclosed. If
they let them go on the market
there will be a flood of houses
and the prices will collapse.”