Gov unveils Mother Cabrini statue
BY ROSE ADAMS & TODD MAISEL
Gov. Andrew Cuomo unveiled
a new statue honoring
the trailblazing Italian-American
saint Mother Cabrini in
Manhattan on Monday — one
year after New York City’s
First Lady Chirlane McCray
snubbed the Italian icon in
her statue-building contest.
“Mother Cabrini challenged
the norms, she broke
the mold, and she achieved
great things,” Cuomo said at
the statue’s unveiling.
Cuomo announced his
plans to build the statue exactly
one year ago at the 2019
Columbus Day Parade. The
announcement came after Mc-
Cray’s statue-building initiative
declined to honor Mother
Cabrini, sparking outrage
among the Italian-American
and Catholic community.
McCray launched the She
Built NYC project in June
2018 to address the city’s lack
of statues honoring great
women, and asked the public
to nominate their favorites.
Parishioners at Bensonhurst’
St. Frances Cabrini Church
mobilized en masse to vote for
the house of worship’s icon.
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St. Frances Cabrini, better
known as Mother Cabrini,
moved to the United States
from her native Italy in the
late 19th century, and founded
nearly 70 schools and hospitals
for immigrants around New
York City. Her work earned
her the title of the patron saint
of immigrants — making her
the fi rst American citizen to
be canonized as a saint.
The reverend at St. Frances
Cabrini Church urged parishioners
to vote for the beloved
Mother Cabrini, and the saint
won the contest by a landslide
with 219 votes.
But McCray chose seven
other women to be honored
by statues — one of whom had
only seven votes.
Representatives for Mc-
Cray and She Built NYC emphasized
that the initiative
collected advisory nominations
rather than votes, and
said the round was the fi rst of
many. However, one spokesman
implied that Mother
Cabrini had too many existing
tributes to be considered.
“We appreciate the passion
and enthusiasm for honoring
Mother Cabrini’s remarkable
life and work, and we’re proud
that New York City is home to
a shrine honoring her, along
with a street and parkland
named in her honor,” he told
Brooklyn Paper.
The fi restorm over the
snub ostracized the mayor
and his wife from the Italian-
American community. More
than 1,000 Catholics marched
in Brooklyn following the decision,
and “A Bronx Tale Actor”
Chazz Palminteri called
the choice not to honor Cabrini
“racist” in an interview on 77
WABC radio.
Cuomo swooped into the
fray on Columbus Day of 2019
by announcing that he would
build the statue with taxpayer
money and contributions from
the Italian-American organization
the Columbus Citizens
Foundation and the Diocese
and Brooklyn.
“As Italian Americans,
we must also remember that
we ourselves are not immune
from attack,” Cuomo told attendees
of a Columbus Citizens
Foundation gala in 2019.
“The leading vote getter by
far was Mother Cabrini. Despite
that, the city commission
picked seven other women to
honor, and excluded Mother
Cabrini.”
During the Oct. 12 unveiling,
Cuomo pulled a red curtain
off of the bronze statue
located in Manhattan’s Battery
Park facing the Statue of
Liberty.
“This Columbus Day, the
celebration of Mother Cabrini
is even more appropriate than
when we announced it last year
because of the diffi culties that
we are facing,” Cuomo said.
De Blasio apparently
turned down an invitation to
attend the unveiling, but did
send a representative to the
event.
A statue of Mother Cabrini was unveiled in Battery Park behind the Jewish
Heritage Museum on Oct. 12. Photo by Todd Maisel
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