NEW YORK – The legendary shoemaker at the World Trade Center in New York City and later Wall Street, Minas Polychronakis passed away at the age of 76 on March 7.
The viewing will be held on Friday, March 9, from 2-5 and 7-9 pm at the Antonopoulos Funeral Home on Ditmars in Astoria. The funeral will be held on March 10 at the Church of Saint Catherine and Saint George in Astoria, where he attended for about fifty years.
He is survived by his wife, Maria, children- Nikolaos, Manolis, Asimenia, and Minas Jr., his brothers in Crete- Michalis Polychronakis, Antonios Polychronakis, Aleko Polychronakis, and Leonidas Polychronakis, and other relatives in Greece.
The deceased was one of the most prominent personalities among the Cretans of New York. He appeared in The National Herald and the American media as one of the survivors of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the Twin Towers.
Though his Minas Shoe Repair shop was destroyed on that day, Polychronakis managed to re-open his shoe repair shop with a great deal of sacrifice just a few blocks away, near Wall Street.
The deceased was born in Heraklion, Crete, in 1941, and at the age of twelve, he learned the profession of shoemaker. In 1969, he learned that the U.S. was looking for craftsmen, including shoemakers, and managed to get a visa and came to New York City with just a few dollars in his pocket and believing that God would help him to achieve the American dream.
Polychronakis first worked in a restaurant washing dishes and doing various tasks. He eventually saved enough money to open his own shoe repair shop.
Minas Polychronakis was very involved with the community, and in the past decade he also served as president of the Cretan Association “Omonia.”
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