More and more we can r about the second wave of the recession that is sure to hit us. The most worried are probably small business owners.

"In my opinion the second wave of recession has already hit us," says Ewelina Kulikowska, 23, a Brooklyn resident and a business student who has lived in the United States for four years. "I am worried about whether I will be able to find a good job after I graduate. On top of that my friends back in Poland tell me it is not much better there either," she says, adding she is looking for an internship. "Some experience will come in handy, when I will be looking for a job later," she concludes.

Polish-American small business owners are not too optimistic about the current situation either. Dariusz Skarzynski, owner of Aldona Fire Protection, which specializes in alarm systems, says he's noted about a 50 percent decline in demand for his services. "Private market is completely dead. Only the market of repairs of existing systems is alive now," says Skarzynski, who employs 35 people now, but had to fire six during the economic downturn. "When the next wave of recession hits, people will simply lose their jobs. I will have no choice; I can't keep employees without having work for them," he said.

Skarzynski said part of the problem is that customers take longer to pay for services, chocking his cash flow. Often he has to wait up to a year to get paid. "Everybody is doing their best not to spend money. Five years ago I forecast what later happened. The second wave of recession is sure to hit us. In my opinion we still haven't hit the bottom yet," Skarzynski said.

Bogdan Pajor, CEO of Amtec Int'l of NY Corp. a Brooklyn-based company which distributes the Polish beer Zywiec, says he is now starting to see the effects of the crisis. "It does not affect us that much yet as it does retailers and restaurants or bars. From there it will start affecting us. It is a chain reaction," Pajor said.

As experts point out, New York which bounced back after the first recession faster than other parts of the country, may feel the second wave of recession – if it arrives – much stronger.

The most recent recession did have a crashing effect on many investment projects and reduced many jobs. Still New York wasn't affected as badly as other parts of the country and managed to regain some of the lost jobs twice as fast as other cities, largely because the city had some financial surpluses collected in times of prosperity and dynamic economic growth, which preceded the recession.

In June the unemployment rate was 8.7 percent in New York City, it has now reached 10 percent. The largest increase in the number of jobs can be observed in sectors such as health care, education and tourism.

Still, some Polish-Americans interviewed for this article remain optimistic about the state of the economy.

Edyta, a resident of Glendale and an employee of Kefirek Delicatessen, thinks that the situation is not going to deteriorate. "I am optimistic and I think things will pick up. I don't think customers are buying less, for example. Besides there are staple products, like bread and milk, people will always need and buy," she said.

Also Grzegorz Wiśniewski from Ridgewood, who works for the NYC Transit, is not afraid of the future. "I am a born optimist and I believe that we will be fine. My 401 (K) plunged in recession, but luckily I still have 15 years to go before I retire so I hope I will make up for it," Wiśniewski added.