PACOM. THE POLISH-AMERICAN CLUB IN MIAMI.
Prelude and a detailed history of the last 10 years of struggles for survival and the pursuit of success, in episodes. A noble initiative and honorable intentions.
Authors: Ania Navas, “Ignacy Łukasiewicz”
The Polish-American Club of Miami (Polish-American Club of Miami – PACOM) was founded in 1938 by a group of Polish emigrants to cultivate Polish traditions, culture, and language. For decades, the club was a favorite meeting place for the Polish community in Florida, giving Polish emigrants a sense of community and a bond with the Homeland.
From the moment of its founding, the club’s headquarters was located at 1250 NW 22nd Ave. (Pulaski Ave.) in Miami. It was one of the oldest and most dynamically active Polish community centers in Florida. Located on extensive grounds next to the Miami River, this one-story building existed until 2018, when its unsatisfactory technical condition made its demolition necessary.
After the old building was demolished (this did not happen without opposition from some club members), new, ambitious plans emerged within the community connected to the club to create a Polish Cultural Center in Miami.
The investment project involves building a modern multifunctional facility on land belonging to the club, which would become not only a venue for meetings and special events, but also the headquarters of several important Polish community organizations, offices, and commercial premises. The plans also include a spacious banquet hall, where celebrations of important Polish community events could be organized, as well as classical music concerts and performances by invited entertainment artists.
The plans are beautiful. They were born from dreams of creating a wonderful cultural center for the Polish community in Florida. According to the latest data, more than 18 thousand people of Polish descent live in Miami-Dade County alone, and throughout Florida this number exceeds 500 thousand. Therefore, there is a huge need to create such a facility.
It is worth mentioning the important role Lady Blanka Rosenstiel played in this initiative.
She is a person greatly distinguished in service to the Polish community. In 1972, she founded The American Institute of Polish Culture in Miami, which promotes Polish culture, science, and art. Since 1977, the Chopin Foundation of the United States has operated at the institute, supporting talented young pianists and promoting the music of Fryderyk Chopin in the USA. Both organizations were founded by Lady Blanka Rosenstiel, and she continues to lead them to this day.
In 2022, Lady Blanka was elected president of PACOM. This came after numerous requests from club members that she run for the position, as the club was going through a difficult phase due to numerous irregularities in management by the previous authorities.
PACOM’s past not always glorious.
The takeover of management of this organization did not occur without difficulties. After nearly five months of discussions about a new management method, Lady Blanka was officially recognized as the president of PACOM.
The cause of these difficulties was the often scandalous and unconstitutional actions of some previous presidents.
A drastic example of abuse of the power vested in this office was, for example, spending money from the SBA fund (Small Business Administration Loan), which was intended as assistance in a crisis situation during the COVID-19 pandemic. The club president at that time (from 2019 until his removal in 2021) not only decided to take out a $124 thousand loan without the board’s consent and on the basis of false declarations about employing 10 people, even though the club had no full-time employees at that time. This same president also disposed of the borrowed funds solely at his own discretion and spent nearly 60 thousand dollars without the knowledge of the other board members. When the matter came to light, it caused outrage among club members and, consequently, a visit from an FBI agent and demands for the immediate repayment of this government loan.
The club’s debt grew (along with accrued interest), and the organization was threatened with bankruptcy and the loss of the property it owned outright. It is worth noting here that land in Miami is becoming increasingly valuable, and developers are seeking sites for new investments. Today, the estimated value of the land, which was originally worth about 4 million dollars, is now as much as 13.5 million dollars! In addition, approval was obtained for a change in the so-called “zoning” decision, and from the already approved permit to build an 8-story building, the possibility arose of constructing a 12-story structure.
Should the Polish community allow such a drastic waste of the land assets belonging to PACOM?
Lady Blanka saves the Club from bankruptcy.
In view of the crisis situation, Lady Blanka Resenstiel decided to
save the existence of the PACOM organization from bankruptcy by taking out the so-called “Rosenstiel loan” in the amount of $1,197,000.
Thanks to this action, the club’s financial situation improved fundamentally. In the spring of 2024, all debts encumbering the PACOM organization were repaid.
A significant increase in the value of the land owned by the club to the sum of 13 million 500 thousand dollars ensured the organization’s stable financial situation and made it possible to take out an additional loan of 3 million 600 thousand dollars for further development and the completion of the ambitious investment plans connected with the creation of the Polish Cultural Center at PACOM.
Growing controversies and a serious conflict regarding the management of the PACOM club in 2024.
According to Lady Blanka Rosenstiel’s account, on December 14, 2024, illegal elections of the club’s board took place, contrary to the PACOM constitution, despite notice by the then-serving Club president, Lady Blanka, that the election date had been postponed to a later date.
As a result of this vote, a new board of the Polish-American Club in Miami was appointed.
According to the latest official filings and amendments in Florida’s state corporate registry (Sunbiz), the key executive role is performed by a group headed by:
Chris Kruszelnicki – entered as President and Director.
In the court lawsuits, the following are also named as persons associated with this managing group (the defendants): Daniel Olech, Leszek Ladowski, Les Surowiec, Wesley Kwasniak, and Lech Zalewski.
Legal dispute before a Florida court.
An open legal dispute is currently ongoing before a Florida court regarding the official composition of the board (listed above) of the Polish-American Club in Miami (PACOM), as a result of which two different factions consider themselves the lawful authorities of the organization.
In March 2026, an official lawsuit was filed with the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County seeking a determination of the lawful authorities and the possible appointment of a court-appointed receiver over the club.
This lawsuit concerns the actions of a group of people who seek to take over the value of this property for their own benefit, at the expense of the non-profit organization.
To this end, this group conducted unlawful elections (in violation of statutory powers), appointing themselves as the authorities of PACOM, and then took control of monetary funds in the amount of over 1 million dollars and real property valued at 13 million 500 thousand dollars (land belonging to PACOM). Currently these persons are causing the waste of the organization’s assets instead of carrying out the project to build PACOM’s new headquarters, and they declare an intention to force the sale of the property and divide the proceeds among themselves and the club members.
As of December 14, 2024, the lawful board of the club consisted of the following persons:
Lady Blanka Rosenstiel (founder of The American Institute of Polish Culture and the Chopin Foundation in the USA)
Jacek Schindler
Rose Kruszewski
John Richard Turski
Members of this board (let us call them the “original PACOM”) accuse the other side
(for convenience, the “new PACOM”) of unauthorized procedural actions and demand a judicial resolution of the management deadlock.
The Polish community in the USA should know about this.
What should be done so as not to squander the legacy?
The lawful PACOM board attempted to communicate with all interested parties, including all members; let us call this group the “original PACOM,” in order to present proposals received from developers concerning the construction of the club.
Repeatedly, the group claiming that it is currently the board, let us call it the “new PACOM,” declared that it had at least 2 development proposals, but those proposals were never publicly presented at that time.
The “original” PACOM sent out a framework proposal from its developer and invited everyone, that is, about 180 people, to a meeting on the ZOOM platform, during which this proposal was presented and a vote was held. No one from the “new PACOM” appeared to present their proposals.
When members of the “original” PACOM tried to participate in meetings of the “new” PACOM, that board responded that they were not members “in good standing” and could not participate in the meetings unless the membership payment was verified. The question arises here: how can we verify whether a given person made a membership payment if the “new” PACOM took over the bank account (opened in mid-2025 by the “original” PACOM) into which payments were made? Is it possible here to risk the statement that the “new” PACOM appropriated these payments and refuses club members participation in meetings? This would be a drastic violation of the membership rights of persons enrolled in the club.
If we review the membership list of the “new” PACOM from September 21, 2025, we will see that after excluding members of the club board’s families, the membership list amounts to only 10 people. Is this not a deliberate action aimed at cementing influence over the choice of developer and the disposition of the club’s assets while bypassing the decisions of the previous (“original”) PACOM board, which still considers itself the lawful authority of this historic and important organization for the Polish community?
The only solution to this situation is joint work aimed at building a modern headquarters for the Polish-American Club in Miami with premises for lease by The American Institute of Polish Culture, which may provide steady income for the club.
This requires absolute transparency and openness on the part of the new PACOM board in terms of joint action for the good of the entire Polish community in Florida.
In the next episodes, we will present in detail the entire history of the club from the moment when our Polish club had a court case on June 16, 2017, initiated by Mr. Kochanek (for unpaid promissory notes and a mortgage in the amount of $664,000 plus costs) and was almost lost by our community.
More about the author/authors:
Zakopane, Poland/Miami, Florida, USA
Anna Navas is a Polish-American journalist originally from Kraków, Poland, who has made Miami, Florida, her permanent home. A seasoned international correspondent and world traveler, she contributes to Polish-American media in the United States, including Kuryer Polski, Polish News, and Nowy Dziennik. Earlier in her career, she worked as a haute couture model in Paris, where she lived for 12 years. She studied economics and French literature at the Academy of Economics in Kraków and at the Sorbonne in Paris. She is a member of the Association of Polish Journalists (SDP) in Warsaw and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). Navas is also actively involved in the Polish-American community and has been associated with the Association of Polish Journalists in America and, for many years, with the Florida chapter of the Friends of the John Paul II Foundation.
