Old Credit Union in Greenpoint Tries to Appeal to Younger Poles

BROOKLYN, Sept., 12 – Polish immigrants arriving in Greenpoint during the 1970s and 1980s found a dilapidated ghetto.  Many also found that the neighborhood’s single commercial bank was reluctant to help many immigrants buy or renovate a home. 

But the Polish immigrants also found community leaders willing to overlook their weak – or nonexistent – credit history and offer them a financial share in their neighborhood. 

Since then, the Polish and Slavic Federal Credit Union has expanded from a desk in the corner of a Manhattan Avenue dinette to a 24,000-square-foot headquarters, nine branches in three states, and over $1 billion in assets.  Over the same period, luxury condos have replaced warehouses around McCarren Park, and Greenpoint gentrified into a hip and vibrant neighborhood. 

But the credit union’s expansion also reflects concerns that changing demographics and an influx of new banks may dilute the financial and cultural commitment of the next generation of Polish customers.

In 1976, seven community leaders took what the credit union Vice President of Marketing Marian Ponanta calls “a leap of faith” - raising $300,000 to help recent immigrants who lacked a credit history, dealt primarily in cash, and had limited English skills to buy homes.

Both the credit union and neighborhood expanded significantly between 1990 and 1994.  Poland opened its borders as Communism crumbled, and 7,200 Polish immigrants - equivalent to 19 percent of the neighborhood’s population - moved to Greenpoint.   Thirty-two years later, the Polish Slavic Credit Union is the largest ethnic credit union in the United States. 

 The credit union also expanded geographically.  It opened ten branches throughout Brooklyn and Queens as well as in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Once again, this expansion followed the neighborhood’s trajectory. 

“The Polish community has rapidly spread,” said Roland Zemla, co-president of the Polish Student Society at Columbia College and a recipient of the credit union’s higher education scholarships. “The stereotype is that everybody’s in Greenpoint.  That’s not true.”

In fact, the Polish population in Brooklyn decreased by 4,010, from 25,759 to 21,749 (nearly 16 percent) between 2005 and 2006. During the same period, the Polish population in Queens increased by 4,109 (nearly the same percent) rising from 22,471 to 26,580.  

Not only has the community spread, but immigration rates have dropped.  Mark Luniewski, one of the seven original founders of the credit union and its first president, attributed this to Poland’s booming economy.

     “Poland now belongs to the E[uropean] U[nion] and belongs to the West,” he said.  “People have got all kinds of improvement there, they don’t have to look for jobs abroad.”

Bozena Mazinska, director of the Immigration and Legal Services program at the Polish Slavic Center, said that customers have decreased by approximately a quarter in the last two years.  And because the visa process takes eight years to complete, the program had not yet affected by Poland’s European Union membership.  But she said it had become increasingly common for Polish citizens who once thought they would join relatives in America to reject their visas.

And unlike the immigrants who arrived before the formation of the credit union, today’s Polish-Americans are not limited by mortgage options.

Ponanta said that nine major banks - including Bank of America, Chase Manhattan and Washington Mutual - have opened in the region within the past nine years. 

“Now, we’re in the big league.  The competition takes us seriously,” he said.

Daphne Roper, community banking manager at the Sovereign Bank branch in Greenpoint, said that the bank took major steps to appeal to the Polish community.  It hired several workers who spoke Polish and regularly donates to community initiatives.  But it distinguished itself by emphasizing that it could provide more financial services as a large national bank.

Credit unions can only offer services to members.  And to qualify for the Polish and Slavic Federal Credit Union requires Polish or Slavic heritage. 

But the credit union hopes that their members’ common heritage will inspire loyalty and overcome demographic obstacles.

To ensure this, the credit union is making an effort to appeal to Polish-American youth.  Since 2001, the credit union awarded over $1.3 million in higher education scholarships. It incorporated online banking. In May 2007, it also donated $100,000 in May 2007 as part of a $3 million effort to establish a permanent chair of Polish Studies at Columbia University.

“We want to make sure young people stay with us so we get them involved,” said Ponanta.

The appeal was well received, particularly by older members of the community.

Like many immigrant groups, Polish-Americans worry that the subsequent American-born generation will forget their ethnic and cultural heritage.

     But some members of the younger generation have different ideas about how to express their Polish identity.

“My view of Greenpoint and "Polonia" in general is pretty negative…it is in no way, shape, or form representative of today's Poland,” emailed Monika Urbanowicz, a Polish immigrant who has never lived in Greenpoint but is familiar with the neighborhood. 

“And young people DO get involved - just not in their ridiculous Church, traditional [etc.] events that are really quite silly,” she continued.

 “Pulaski Parade is the best example… It is SO unprofessional and country-looking that it really defeats the purpose of seriously marking our presence in New York. And any attempts of trying to modernize the parade went nowhere - because the older crowd does not want to hear about it.”

     Roland Zemla felt the credit union could be more involved in social issues.

 “What about those immigrants who came here but didn’t make it?” he asked.

He is trying to coordinate outreach activities through the Polish Student Society that focus on healthcare options and services for homeless persons. 

However, he praised the credit union’s accomplishments.

“The Polish and Slavic Federal Credit Union embodies what the culture is about.  It embodies the spirit of Poland by helping young Polish by having a common community, a common source, helps out financially...” he said.  “America is not one culture.  It exists because many cultures come together… a new generation is seeing another road. Not branching off.”

But some changes have occurred.  This year, the credit union asked scholarship applicants to write an essay on how the credit union could compete with other banks that were seeking to attract Polish clients.  The essays could be written in English or Polish.  All entries were in English.