Man of the year 1972

Born in 1905, the son of recently arrived immigrants from Poland, Joseph Kostecki, our "Man of the Year," grew up in the lower part of Manhattan, where his parents owned a grocery store. After completing neighborhood schools, he went on to Brown University and to the New York University Bellevue Hospital Medical School, from which he received an M.D. with honors, 1932. He continued his medical studies in the field of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery to Win international recognition in this field. Assistant Professor of Plastic Surgery at the Downstate Medical Center, he also was Chief of Plastic Surgery at the Combined Catholic Medical Center of Brooklyn and Queens.

However, the most important event in Dr. Kostecki's life took place in 1934, when he married Helena Klass. Three children and nine grandchildren have resulted from this union.

 Despite the demands of his family and his profession, Dr. Kostecki has not forgotten his civic and social res- ponsibilities. A longtime supporter of the Greenpoint Y.M.C.A., he served as a member of its Board of Managers, and for the last two years, as Chairman of the Board. For some thirty years he has served as Medical Director of the Polish National Alliance of Brooklyn, in which he also served as Cenzor for four years. He has also been active in the National Medical and Dental association, being elected National President in 1971. He also helped reactivate the Polish American Legal and Medical Association in the New York Metropolitan area, whose President he served as for two years. Dr. Kostecki is also a member of the Board of Trustees of The Kosciuszko Foundation. 

Throughout all his life, Dr. Kostecki has been interested in the Polish Song and for fifty-one years he has been active with the Polish Singers of America, in either the Echo or Symphonia Choirs. Even while serving in the Armed Forces, between1942 and 1946, during which time he held the rank of Major Dr Kostecki continued his interest in Music. While in Casablanca, he organized a trio which sang over the radio, under the direction of the noted radio personality André Barusch; and in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, he organized a quartet which entertained sick and wounded soldiers. 

Dr. Kostecki has received every honor and award offered by the Polish Singers of America. He was chosen "Man Of The Year" by the Y.M.C.A., in 1970, and received the Humanitarian Award by the John Smolenski Memorial Democratic Club, that same year. Today, the Pulaski Business and Professional Men join in honoring this distinguished American.