By Della Hasselle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — The Empire State Building is in the spotlight again, this time for angering the Poles by refusing to honor one of their revolutionary war heroes in time for Sunday’s Pulaski Day Parade.
"This is a blow to all Polish-Americans," New York consul general of Poland Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka told the New York Daily News.
While the building was lit up in the yellow, red and black of the German flag last month to honor that country's war hero, Gen. Frederick Von Steuben, the request to honor Polish Gen. Casimir Pulaski with the Polish red and white was denied without explanation, according to the News.
Angry Polish-Americans are now shedding an unfavorable light on the New York landmark, saying it is biased to specific countries.
"We are very saddened that the [building] is very selective in recognizing fairly the NYC ethnic groups, especially those parading in Manhattan," Juncyzk-Ziomecka said to the News. She said they put in the application three months early.
The snub comes on the heels of a controversy over the building’s refusal to honor Mother Theresa on her 100th birthday this past summer.
The building will be lit up Saturday and Sunday in pink and white, symbolizing an NFL campaign that announces Breast Cancer Awareness Month, according to its website.
