News

By EDMUND DEMARCHE and SUZANNE ROZDEBA
Last Updated: 12:32 PM, April 12, 2010

Poles flocked to the streets from Warsaw to the East Village and Greenpoint yesterday to mourn the nation's president, Lech Kaczynski, whose remains were flown home in a flag-draped coffin after the Russian air crash that killed him and dozens of top aides.

Initial reports based on flight voice and data recordings suggest that the crash that killed 96 people Saturday morning -- including Kaczynski, 60, his wife, Maria, and dozens of Poland's leaders -- was caused by pilot error, officials said.

Preliminary findings indicate no mechanical failure, a Russian official said yesterday.

In the heavily Polish community of Greenpoint in Brooklyn, police closed off streets around St. Stanislaus Kostka Church as 1,500 crowded inside for a special Mass and hundreds more stood outside.

"I cried all day," said Sophie Klawinowska, 55, a nanny in Greenpoint. Kaczynski "gave such great hope to Poland. I'm just terribly saddened."

Said Izabella Stolarz: "We want to show that we do care, whether we do or don't agree politically with those who perished."

SOLEMN: [ PAFDC ] Dancers in folk costumes in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, shed tears yesterday for the victims of the plane crash that devastated Poland.