22 AUGUST 24, 2017 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Former Civic Virtue site in Kew Gardens
rededicated as Queens’ “Women’s Plaza”
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
EDAVENPORT@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
‘Herstory’ was made in Kew
Gardens on Aug. 22, as the
former site of a controversial
statue was offi cially rededicated to the
women of Queens.
On Aug. 22, Borough President
Melinda Katz hosted the ribbon-cutting
for the newly-restored “Women’s
Plaza in Queens,” located on the
northeast corner of Union Turnpike
and Queens Boulevard near Queens
Borough Hall.
“Queens has been home to so many
incredible, trail-blazing women across
all industries, from business to politics,
sports to entertainment,” Katz
said. “The Women’s Plaza in Queens
– located in our borough’s civic center
– is a visible, meaningful tribute to all
the women of Queens who have made
a lasting positive impact in New York
City and around the globe. This newly
restored public space at Queens Borough
Hall should be utilized by many,
and will serve as a reminder of how far
we’ve come and how much further we
must go.”
The plaza was formerly the site of
the controversial “Triumph of Civic
Virtue” statue. The 17-foot marble
statue, which depicted a male nude
standing on top of two female fi gures
representing “Vice” and “Corruption,”
was installed at City Hall in 1922. It was
relocated by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia
in 1941 to the then-new Queens
Borough Hall. In 2012, amid calls that
Civic Virtue was sexist, the statue
was moved one more time from Kew
Gardens to the Green-Wood Cemetery
in Brooklyn.
After taking office in January 2014, Katz
endorsed former Borough President Helen
Marshall’s idea to repair and restore the
remaining structure and surrounding
plaza while re-purposing and re-dedicating
the space to women in Queens.
“I congratulate and thank Borough
President Katz for creating a beautiful
space at Borough Hall where people
can relax and women will now be celebrated
rather than denigrated,” said
former Queens Borough President
Claire Shulman, who called for the removal
of the original “Triumph of Civic
Virtue” statue during her tenure as
borough president. She had famously
stated, “A municipal building is not an
appropriate place for a statue that portrays
women as evil and treacherous.”
Due to years of neglect and exposure
to the elements, the base of the
Women’s Plaza was in bad condition.
As a part of a restoration project funded
by by Mayor Bill de Blasio and Katz,
the DDC repaired the restored the
damaged stonework, improved landscaping,
and installed plantings, new
lighting and benches for public use.
The site also includes a new plaque
to recognize the location’s re-dedication
to women.
Photo via Twitter/@MelindaKatz
Queens Borough President Melinda Katz (fourth from right) and former
Borough President Claire Shulman helped cut the ribbon on the new
Women's Plaza in Kew Gardens on Aug. 22.
H. Beach weekly publisher out on bail in witness tampering case
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
RPOZARYCKI@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@ROBBPOZ
The publisher of The Forum
Newsgroup based in Howard
Beach is now under supervised
release after being charged with
allegedly trying to intimidate a sex
assault victim’s father in an eff ort
to drop her case against a reputed
mobster in the neighborhood.
Patricia Adams, 58, was booked on
Aug. 16 on federal witness tampering
charges for allegedly attempting to
interfere in a sex assault case against
Robert Pisani, a local business owner
and reputed member of the Bonnano
crime family who was indicted along
with nine associates earlier this year.
During her arraignment, Adams
was released on $150,000 but ordered
to be detained at her home and fi tted
with a electronic monitoring device.
If convicted, she faces up to up to 20
years behind bars.
According to the criminal complaint,
Pisani — who had been
released from federal custody on
$500,000 bail — allegedly groped a
female employee and exposed himself
to her at his shop, the All-American
Bagel and Barista Company at 82-
51 153rd Ave., on April 28. Members
of the NYPD arrested him on May 4
on charges of forcible touching, sex
abuse and harassment.
The arrest prompted Acting U.S.
Attorney for the Eastern District of
New York Bridget Rohde to request
that Pisani’s bail be revoked. Aft er
a federal judge ordered a hearing
on the matter to take place on May
16, federal prosecutors said, Pisani
allegedly reached out to Adams for
assistance.
According to the complaint, Adams
is considered a known associate of
the Bonnano family and had racked
up years of massive debt with them
due to her gambling habits “which
resulted in losses of up to $1,500 per
week.” She was known to play cards
regularly at an Ozone Park social
club that the crime outfi t controlled.
At the same time, Adams also
serves as publisher of The Forum, the
weekly newspaper serving numerous
southern Queens neighborhoods
including Howard Beach, Broad
Channel, Ozone Park, Richmond
Hill and Woodhaven. Her paper had
previously written favorable articles
about Pisani and his bagel business,
the complaint noted.
Shortly after Pisani’s bail revocation
hearing was scheduled,
prosecutors said, Adams reached
out to the sex assault victim’s father
and asked to meet with him. They
agreed to meet on May 13 at a local
Starbucks cafe.
During the 2 1/2 hour conversation
that the victim’s father recorded, law
enforcement sources said, Adams
allegedly told him that she was close
with Pisani and that she was “in a position
… to have to expose the whole
situation if we get to that point.”
“I won’t hurt you if you don’t deserve
— that’s for my enemies,” she allegedly
told the victim’s father. “I will not hurt
you … but in the newspaper, thoroughly,
thoroughly objective … For
my good, for everybody’s good — I’m
hoping that she’ll decide to drop it.”
She went on to allegedly tell the
man that she was “on the verge
of — I’ve been trying to get out for
two years. But because of certain
obligations, I’m forced to stay on. I’m
kind of under their thumb.” Federal
agents believe she was referencing
her alleged obligations to the Bonnano
family.
Screenshot via YouTube/
LibertyAvenuePolitics.com
Patricia Adams, publisher of The
Forum Newsgroup, was arrested
on Aug. 16 on federal witness
tampering charges.
