HOLY WAR! Catholics hit the streets to demand city build statue of saint following McCray snub
Suspect on the lam despite false capture report
COURIER LIFE, OCT. 11-17, 2019 5
BY ROSE ADAMS
More than 1,000 Kings County
Catholics gathered in Carroll
Gardens on Sunday to march
in support of Mother Cabrini, a
saint and former Brooklynite,
who was recently snubbed by
First Lady Chirlane McCray
during a city-sponsored statuebuilding
competition.
“It was extremely powerful,”
said Monsignor David
Cassato, the Italian Apostolate
of the Diocese of Brooklyn,
who helped organize the
march.
The controversy surrounding
the 20th-century saint
erupted in late August after
McCray — Mayor Bill de Blasio’s
wife — overrode constituents
who voted overwhelmingly
to honor Mother Cabrini
by erecting a new public
statue.
The saint dominated the
poorly attended polls by more
than a hundred votes, but
the city’s First Lady snubbed
the democratic process in
choosing seven other historic
women to be memorialized by
the She Built NYC public initiative,
sparking outrage in
the Catholic community.
The Oct. 6 protest was attended
by more than 1,000
Mother Cabrini fans from
across the city, who carried
signs and statues honoring
the saint — known for her
work with New York’s immigrants
in the late 19th century
— as they crusaded through
Carroll Gardens, concluding
their march at Sacred Hearts
Church on First Place and
Hicks Street.
One marcher, whose
grandmother was a student of
Mother Cabrini in the early
1900s, said the procession
brought the community together
in honor of a worthy
cause.
“I loved it,” said Carroll
Gardens native Maria Cammareri.
“It was so nice going
around the neighborhood.”
The Catholic Foundation
for Brooklyn and Queens used
the march to announce a fundraising
campaign to build its
own statue of the beloved saint
— which they hope to erect
outside of Brooklyn Borough
Hall. Donations for the effort
immediately took off, reaching
over $17,000 before the end
of the day, according to Cassato.
But some Catholics remain
uncontent to turn the other
cheek, arguing that the city
should be bankrolling the new
statue, not private donors.
“I’ve been a very big donor
of the Catholic church,” said
Bensonhurst resident Ursula
Agosta. “But the whole principle
is that McCray is using
taxpayer money.”
Reverend Guy Sbordone
from St. Frances Cabrini
Church in Bensonhurst also
criticized the effort, arguing
that the crowdfunding strategy
takes the pressure off Mc-
Cray.
“It should be done by the
city,” he said.
But Cassato defended the
fundraising campaign, claiming
that the money would simply
augment city funding for
a Mother Cabrini statue, not
commission one on its own.
“We do not want the decision...
to be limited because of
a budget already exhausted on
their current selections,” he
said. “Should the city decided
to fully fund the creation of
the statue then donations will
be available to enhance what
is created by the city.”
Currently, the city is planning
on commemorating the
seven women of McCray’s
choosing — including jazz
singer Billie Holiday, Congresswoman
Shirley Chisholm,
and civil rights advocate
Elizabeth Jennings Graham
— none of whom managed
even a second place fi nish during
the voting period.
BY ROSE ADAMS
Cops falsely claimed that an escaped robbery
suspect had been re-apprehended after slipping
police custody in handcuffs in Brooklyn
Heights on Monday morning, and now say
the fugitive remains on the lam.
Police were transporting the suspect from
the 60th Precinct in Coney Island to Central
Booking on Schermerhorn Street between
Smith Street and Boerum Place when he escaped
police custody a little after 11 am, authorities
confi rmed.
Offi cers claimed they recaptured the man
later that day, but admitted their mistake on
Tuesday.
“Yesterday there was a misunderstanding,
but he has not been apprehended,” said Offi cer
Arlene Muniz, a spokeswoman for the police
department.
Cops originally claimed that they found
and re-apprehended the suspect sometime before
3:15 pm, but have since reneged on that
statement.
The wanted man — who was arrested in
the near Coney Island on robbery charges —
slipped police custody and fl ed southbound on
Court Street near Atlantic Avenue while still
handcuffed, according to social crime-reporting
app Citizen .
Dozens of police cars and helicopters canvassed
the area for hours, and local schools
were put on lock-down during the hunt, according
to Citizen.
The police vehicles have now subsided, and
authorities have not commented on the ongoing
search.
Cops described the man as fi ve-foot 11-
inches tall, with hair in cornrows, a light
beard and mustache. He was last seen wearing
sky blue t-shirt under a military green track
suit with orange stripes.
Anyone who provides police with information
leading to an arrest can expect up to a
$2,500 reward through the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers
program. The public can phone their tips
to (800) 577-8477, log into the Crime Stoppers
website at www.nypdcrimstoppers.com, tweet @
NYPDTips, or text tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then
enter TIP577.
All calls are strictly confi dential.
More than 1,000 Catholics protested
First Lady Chirlane McCray’s
decision to snub Mother Cabrini
(above) in a march that ended at
Sacred Heart Church (below). Photo
by Trey Pentecost
Four men carried a statue of Mother
Cabrini during the Oct. 6 march.
Photo by Trey Pentecost
/www.nypdcrimstoppers.com
/www.nypdcrimstoppers.com
