Congress passed a law requiring the Dyker Heights Post Offi ce be renamed after Mother Cabrini. Google
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COURIER LIFE, FEBRUARY 14-20, 2020 3
BY ROSE ADAMS AND MEG CAPONE
Congress passed a bill on
Feb. 5 that would rename the
Dyker Heights Post Offi ce after
the New York-based saint
Mother Cabrini, infuriating
some locals, who love Cabrini
— and hate the postal service!
“The post offi ces in NYC
are pieces of f–– sh–. Why the
hell would someone want to be
named after one?” said Nick,
a Dyker Heights resident, who
did not give his last name.
The dubious tribute comes
after Mayor Bill de Blasio’s wife,
Chirlane McCray, snubbed the
saint in her She Built NYC statue
building initiative in August,
when the Cabrini won a
public nomination process by
a landslide, only for the city’s
fi rst lady to build a statue for
seven other historic women.
The move sparked a massive
controversy, and Congressman
Max Rose introduced his bill to
rename the Dyker Heights Post
Offi ce after the beloved saint
a few weeks later — pleasing
many local Catholics and the
Brooklyn Diocese.
“I think it’s fabulous!” said
Bensonhurst resident Ursula
Agota, a parishioner at Saint
Frances Cabrini Church. “Have
to thank Max!”
The pastor at St. Frances
Cabrini Church also lauded
the change, but argued that the
new name doesn’t replace a cityfunded
statue.
“We’re very happy. It’s very
nice…But the city still has to
recognize her,” said Father Guy
Sbordone, who added that he
wished Rose had contacted the
parish about the renaming. “It
would’ve been nice for the parish
to participate.”
However, critics argued
against associating the saint
with the notoriously disorganized
Dyker Heights Post Offi
ce — which Yelp reviewers
awarded 2.5 stars and called
“terrible!” and “the worst lying
deceiving lazy post offi ce in the
city” — and charged that the beloved
saint deserved better.
“If you think about a post
offi ce, it has a very negative
reputation,” said Bob Capano,
a conservative columnist and
the former Brooklyn Director
to Congressman Max Rose’s
predecessor, Vito Fossella (RDyker
Heights). “When’s the
last time someone walked into
a post offi ce and said, ’What
a beautiful building! What a
model of effi ciency!’”
McCray’s snub infuriated
Bensonhurst parishioners at
St. Frances Cabrini Parish,
who had mobilized en masse to
vote for Mother Cabrini in the
hopes of honoring the patron
saint of immigrants, who built
dozens of schools and hospitals
across the city.
The Mayor’s offi ce argued
that public nominations were
merely suggestions, not votes,
and said that they’d consider
the saint for round two of the
contest — but Catholics and
Italian-Americans viewed the
snub as biased against Italian-
Americans. In October, more
than 1,000 Catholics marched
in protest of the snub, and actor
Chazz Palminteri called out de
Blasio on live radio after claiming
the decision to exclude
Cabrini was “racist.”
Governor Andrew Cuomo
put the scuffl e to rest when
he announced on Columbus
Day his plans to assemble a 19-
person committee that would
oversee the construction of a
Mother Cabrini statue in Battery
Park. One week later, Rose
announced his bill to rename
the Dyker Heights Post Offi ce
And love or hate the congressman’s
postal tribute,
there’s some optimism that the
saint will provide a holy inspiration
for the workers within.
“Maybe having that name
would improve it a little,” said
Father Sbordone.
Going postal
Bill to rename Dyker Heights Post Offi ce
after Mother Cabrini stirs controversy
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