By Nick Stamatakis
The first time I was at Ziegfeld Theater, the premier cinema of NYC, was in February 1989, for the first screening of the re-mastered “Lawrence Of Arabia” to the original almost 4-hour (!!) length… I am still mesmerized by the memory of this classic movie, my favorite of all time (and a required viewing for all interested in Middle East geopolitics). The setting of Ziegfeld and especially the acoustics were superb – unsurpassed. The cinema closed in 2016, to become the ballroom picked by the Parade Committee for this year’s Gala.
The acoustics yesterday were still amazing and made a difference as the Kerynia Opera orchestra entertained the 500 attendees of the Gala. Yiannis Stroumbakis insisted that the Committee made the choice for the improved food, and he was correct: we had enough excellent tastes in appetizers and “little bites” by the time we were done with cocktails.
As for the main event, the Presidential Guard started the show once again, and it was a beautiful and historic spectacle to watch… For the first time, they were also seated at a table in the back, and I had the chance to approach and thank them, asking them more questions…
The main honoree was Vangelis Marinakis, a person who had created great controversy in the previous months; his presence was likely the main reason the other Grand Marshall, 4-star General Andrew Poppas, declined to participate in person, sending Col. Joseph Katz to replace him. Gen. Poppas was informed that Marinakis is currently under criminal investigation in Greece and did not want to get involved for numerous reasons, as even schoolchildren understand.
Former Ambassador to Athens George Tsunis delivered the introduction for Marinakis, and he was worse than expected – if that was ever possible. Childish in his remarks, was having a hard time even reading from his Wikipedia notes about Marinakis, and was unable to offer even ONE instance of ONE event that would describe his “close” friendship with him. Even though we knew nothing about their friendship, after listening to Tsunis, we were certain this “friendship” was about business and money – nothing else.
Vangelis Marinakis then took the podium, and I dare say, somehow, he saved the day despite his obvious lack of training or talent in public speaking. If we knew nothing about his legal troubles the last ten years, if we ignored the fact that he served as the Mitsotakis Family “cashier” in the past two decades, then Marinakis presented the image of a rather typical Greek shipowner, the kind that Helleniscope has praised repeatedly.
Marinakis spent most of his speech talking about the impact Greek shipping has on Hellenism by being so important for the global economy. He spoke about his 150 ships of all types, including LNG ships that are so important for American natural gas exports. His company has been part of NASDAQ for about two decades, and one of the shareholders of the scheme is Wilbert Ross, also a main stakeholder at the “Bank of Pireaus”. These schemes are all about personal interest, as you can tell, and some Greek oligarchs, like Marinakis, have managed to take advantage of the “investments” of foreign vultures like W. Ross.
Marinakis also spoke a bit about our national issues, and especially Cyprus, apparently to thank Philip Christopher. He showed a keen understanding of geopolitics, as all Greek shipowners do. They have proven to be the best geopolitical analysts, a skill they have inherited directly from Thucidides, I may add, as Greek shipping/maritime traditions go back at least five millennia. And there lies Hellenism’s biggest hope: that it would be the shipowners that have the greatest influence in the foreign policy of Greece and NOT the politicians: The shipowners make real “interest calculations” in making decisions and are not being “bought” by foreign powers.
In recent years, after the 2022 start of the Ukraine war, most shipowners, including Marinakis, consciously and calculatingly did business with Russia, proving that they are the best actors in global shipping. The result was untold billions of profit!! Should I remind everyone that the Greek Revolution of 1821 was financed mainly by the profits of shiponwers when they broke (1806-1814) the British embargo against Napoleon in Marseilles and the French rewarded them literally with gold!! The West, even today, calls the Greek shipowners “pirates”. The reality is that they follow their interests, and usually, these interests are the interests of Hellenism: Hellenism without shipping cannot exist!
In this perspective, the fact that the shipowners (like Marinakis, Melissanidis, Alafouzos) own the majority of the Greek media currently, may be “untasteful” to international standards, BUT, weirdly, this control prevents corrupt politicians like Mitsotakis from “selling out” the interests of Greece, to the highest foreign bidder… Even to Turkey!…
I will close this note by asking all those involved in organizing the Parade to learn their lesson for the future: Our parades are organized mainly for our children and grandchildren… We could have invited Marinakis when and if he would be cleared from any legal trouble. By inviting him now, what are we teaching the younger generations? That “honors can be bought”? Is this the moral lesson we want to teach our children? Does the Archbishop have something to say? Not…
PS. Some rumors have started circulating in the community that Marinakis’s secret reason for visiting New York was to close a deal with TNH publisher Diamataris and buy the National Herald. The newspaper has faced a myriad of problems the last ten years, the main ones having to do with Diamataris himself and his disgraceful exit from the Greek government in 2019 because of his Columbia degree scandal. Not many pay attention to TNH, and it has lost any credibility that was left to it. Diamataris has known Marinakis for a long time, since the years when Marinakis was the Mitsotakis family’s “cashier”.
PS2. In general, the reception of both Tsunis and Marinakis by the audience was very lukewarm for obvious reasons. At some point, Philip Christopher announced that he had to speed up the event as Marinakis had another urgent meeting scheduled and needed to leave! Marinakis ended up leaving in a very disrespectful manner, even before the Archbishop stood up to leave…
March 30, 2025, n.stamatakis@aol.com www.helleniscope.com
DISCLAIMER: The views and statements expressed in this article constitute constitutionally protected opinions of this author.
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A FEW MORE PHOTOS FROM THE EVENT
