Derrick Komorowski achieves his career goal of running a building

By John Friia

For a quarter century, Derrick Komorowski has been employed by TF Cornerstone Inc., holding numerous positions with the development and management company, including his most recent as the building manager of 2 Gold Street. Originally hailing from Poland, Komorowski moved to New York after living in Canada and Austria in 1986. He started working with TF Cornerstone on Nov. 2, 1987, as a concierge with a goal of becoming a building manager one day.

Setting that goal for himself, he knew he needed to take classes that would make him prepared for the job. While working, he enrolled in classes that would give him the needed skills, including lessons on boilers, pollution, carpentry, electricity, plumbing and many more. He needed to take these classes to become certified by the National Association of Homebuilders to be considered for the position of building manager.

He took those skills that he learned and used them hands-on at some of the buildings he worked in. “TFC definitely recognized my potential, and they gave me an opportunity to prove myself and reach my goal,” Komorowski said.

After he finally was hired as a building manager, the first location his managed was 45 Wall St. in the Financial District. After two years, he was transferred to 99 John St. and then he came to manage 2 Gold Street, the fairly new 51-story luxury building erected between Platt Street and Maiden Lane in the Financial District.

“It was very fulfilling for me to be entrusted with the responsibility of these buildings—these transfers showed me that I am being recognized for all my hard work,” Komorowski said.
As a residential building manager, Komorowski resides in the building and oversees everything to ensure that things are functioning properly, from technical issues to resident problems.

“One of things that I enjoy most about being a building manager are the many tasks that are given to me. I help with customer service, attending to residents’ needs, and to the building’s needs too,” he said.

Like many building throughout downtown, 2 Gold Street. was impacted by Hurricane Sandy and is currently uninhabitable due to severe flooding in the basement that damaged its systems; tenants have been told that they can expect to move back in March 2013. Komorowski explained that everyone is working hard to get the building safe for the residents, which includes reconstruction of all plumbing and heating systems, and to ensure that the building will function safely.

Working for TF Cornerstone for 25 years, he likes that everyone, even the executives, is easy to contact. “I can reach out to anyone at any level, and they will listen, and give me their personal attention” Komorowski noted.

“It is our pleasure to join Downtown Manhattan in honoring Derrick as an invaluable member of the community—as a helping hand and welcoming face,” said Kevin P. Singleton, executive vice president of TF Cornerstone Inc. “TF Cornerstone celebrates Derrick’s spirit and achievement.”
Since starting with the company, Komorowski said that the most exciting part is the opening of new buildings; as of today he has been a part of opening seven buildings. “I enjoy the process of converting commercial buildings into residential buildings, training the staff and meeting the new tenants,” he said.

A resident of downtown Manhattan for nearly 15 years, Komorowski has witnessed the transformation of the neighborhood firsthand. First living in the Financial District and currently living in the Gold Street building, Komorowski, a self-described “foodie,” noted that there has been an emergence of great restaurants and shopping in the area. He and his wife enjoy walking throughout the South Street Seaport and the many historical sites and flavors of downtown.
When he is not working at 2 Gold Street, Komorowski enjoys the outdoors while staying at his weekend house in the Catskill Mountains. “I love nature,” he said. While upstate he enjoys the tranquility and peacefulness that might be hard to find in Manhattan, and “recharges his batteries.”

“It is [far from] a boring job and I am very happy—right now I would not change a thing,” he said.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

A police officer shot and killed a pit bull in the East Village at approximately 4:25 p.m. on Monday.

The officer was one of four to respond to a call to check on the dog’s owner, who appeared to be passed out on a sidewalk at 14th Street and 2nd Avenue in front of a KFC. When the officer attempted to wake up the man, the dog allegedly lunged at him, and he opened fire.

Neighboring businesses, friends and residents at the scene told DNAinfo that the man had come to the U.S. from Poland, and that he and his dog frequented that corner. He was 29 years old, suffered from epilepsy and had frequent seizures, they said.

A witness who called himself a friend of the unconscious man told the Local East Village that the man is known as Pollock and that the dog was named Star.

An East Village resident on the scene said to Gothamist that at first the officers were “not aggressive” towards the man or the dog. “The dog was barking very loudly, as though it were protecting its turf,” the resident said. The officers sprayed mace at the dog, according to the resident, then shot it when it advanced towards them.

“There were a lot of people around, and I didn’t hear them tell anyone to clear off,” the resident told Gothamist. “There was a little boy closer to the scene with his dad, and he started bawling.”

Chef Eddie Huang tweeted a photo of the incident, and told the Observer that “everyone around was like: Put the dog out of its misery. The cops left this dog wiggling and flaying, blood coming out of its mouth. They shot it in front of a public bus.”

“He was protecting the owner, like what animals do. He doesn’t know any better, he’s a dog,” a witness told NY1. “They could have handled it differently, rather than shooting the dog.

“I talked to the cop afterwards,” said another witness to NY1. “He was very shaken up. He’s a dog lover and it ruined his week, if not his year. And he did what he had to do to protect himself.”

The unconscious man and the police officer were both transported to local hospitals following the incident, an FDNY spokesperson told DNAinfo.

Euro 2012 host countries Poland and Ukraine find themselves under close scrutiny as racism accusations intensify. The Union of European Football Association (UEFA) has already opened several investigations as we approach the second week of the competition.

The controversy was sparked last month with BBC’s “Stadiums of Hate,” a documentary denouncing the presence of racist and neo-nazi groups among soccer fans in both Ukraine and Poland, the two countries chosen to host the prestigious Euro 2012. Among others, the documentary featured British soccer veteran Sol Campbell, saying the following about the competition: “Stay at home. Watch it on TV. Don’t even risk it because you could end up coming back in a coffin.”

Other black British players, such as Theo Walcott and Alex Chamberlain, have asked their families to follow Campbell’s advice and remain at home, while many began to question the two host countries’ ability to keep players and supporters safe. British authorities even called on supporters traveling to these countries to be careful, especially after Sky News reported that a group of Ukrainian hooligans had issued official threats to British fans.

Polish and Ukrainian officials have reacted strongly to the accusations, claiming that the media have largely exaggerated on the situation. “There is a problem with racism and anti-semitism in Poland,” acknowledged Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman Marcin Bosacki, “but it is blown out of every single proportion in this material.”

UEFA President and ex-French soccer player Michel Platini was of the same opinion, stating that there isn’t “any more racism in Poland and Ukraine than in France or anywhere else.” He went on to add that racism was a problem rooted in social issues, and that sports should be seen as a part of the solution rather than a cause of the problem.

The BBC documentary has been heavily criticized on the grounds that it attempted to sensationalize the issue by blowing it out of proportion. While it is true that extreme-right ideologies are currently on the rise in Europe, racism in soccer is by no means confined to ex-Soviet countries. In fact, the British Premier League has recently had its own problems, as Liverpool forward Luis Suarez was found guilty of racist insults towards French Senegalese player Patrice Evra in October 2011, collecting an 8-match ban and a $60,000 fine. Chelsea’s John Terry is also currently undergoing trial for similar accusations.

Regardless of whether BBC’s “Stadiums of Hate” was simply pouring oil on the fire, Ukraine and Poland will certainly find themselves under close scrutiny until the end of the tournament. The UEFA has already begun investigating several cases pertaining to racist behavior in the stands, including Sunday’s incident during the Spain – Italy game, where about 200 Spanish fans allegedly directed monkey chants at black Italian player Mario Balotelli. Police had to intervene yesterday after a particularly bloody clash between Polish and Russian supporters in Warsaw, but the incident seemed more influenced by the tumultuous history of the two countries than by racist sentiments.

For Ukraine, the stakes seem higher than a simple game of football. Several European politicians have been pressuring the Ukrainian government to release former Prime Minister and opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, who was arrested last October on charges of abuse of power. The Euro Cup could be a chance for Ukraine to redeem itself in the eyes of Europe, if things go well. In the meantime, Ukrainian fans will certainly have enjoyed Monday’s 2-1 win against Sweden.

by Laurent Berstecher

“You’re going to be a father, not a footballer!” shouted my heavily pregnant wife, a newly registered nurse, after I mentioned the idea of playing soccer again, eight years ago. “If you go back out there and play, don’t expect me to visit you in the hospital.”

It was a refrain I’d heard almost two decades before from my mother in London, when I arrived home on crutches. After five surgeries on the same right knee, including two ACL reconstructions and three meniscus repairs, my wife laid down an ultimatum. Some people are serial adulterers, others drug users, but I was a serial soccer player. Now I had to try and go cold turkey.

Like many Brits, I grew up soccer-mad, with hopes of turning professional. I spent most of my childhood kicking a ball and being carted by my tireless parents to games.

Alas, I never turned pro, but it was so ingrained into my life and psyche that by the time I moved to New York at 25, I staved off homesickness by hanging out with a core group of soccer-crazy expats. Most of them worked in finance, but as freelance journalist, I had neither medical insurance nor money. They all lived in stylish apartments or sweeping suburban homes, while I slept on a futon in a rented walk-up in Prospect Heights.

When I first felt the searing pain in my right knee on a soccer field in New Jersey in 1997, I didn’t know then that my torn ACL would affect the way I’d watch the game. A bad surgery in my native United Kingdom and string of further injuries threatened to permanently derail my soccer playing days at the age of 35.

“You’ve put my kids through college,” joked my New York-based surgeon from his plush offices on Beekman Street near the Financial District when I saw him for what would be my final MRI scan. “You’d be crazy to step on the soccer field again.”

It was soul-crushing after planning my life around the next game, training and rehab. With my wife about to give birth, I imagined myself sneaking out to play soccer, the way some men sneak out to the bar or to see their mistress. She reiterated her stance, telling me, “I’m not about to start teaching two people how to walk”.

The birth of our second daughter in 2007 firmly extinguished any embers of hope I had of trotting back out onto the field as my life was transformed into a cyclone of dirty diapers, sleepless nights and rushing out to buy formula.

Though I now diligently swim laps and lift weights, there is a huge void in my life. The adrenalin of running out onto a soccer pitch, charging around and screaming to 10 other teammates cannot be matched. Now my girls are 4 and 6, the same age as I started playing, the embers are starting to rekindle.

I take them out regularly to Prospect Park with a soccer ball, praying for the spark of attraction to leap from the ball to their soul the way it did with me. When I start playing with them, I feel my touch start to return. At 43, I’m still in good shape but my war-torn knee, which crunches and clicks like a clockmaker’s repair room, couldn’t stand it.

My wife thinks I’m totally cured of my old ways and would be shocked to know that I still pine for my first love. I’ll watch the games this summer, and if you happen to be in a downtown bar watching England play and you see an Indian-looking guy kick an imaginary ball, willing them to score, before clutching his right knee and wincing in pain, that’ll be me.