Reflections on NYC's Mother Cabrini Monument

Mother Cabrini statue by Jill and Giancarlo Biagi at Battery Park City Esplanade

Thanks to the ongoing lawlessness and comrade de Blasio’s inane policies (to put it mildly), I’ve been avoiding the city as much as possible. Not since Dinkins have I felt this unsafe riding the subway or walking the muraled streets of Manhattan. Nevertheless, risking a visit last Sunday for the 119th Annual Feast of San Vincenzo Martire in Little Italy, I decided to make the most of it and finally go see the new St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Memorial in Battery Park City.

Unveiled on October 12th by Governor Andrew Cuomo for Columbus Day, the bronze statue depicts Mother Cabrini on a large paper boat with two young Italian American orphans and/or immigrants. In full view of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, the well kempt and squatter free location is befitting the patron saint of immigrants. Ideally it should have been erected in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, so the good people of Sacred Hearts and St. Stephen’s Parish who overwhelmingly voted for her could enjoy it in relative safety, but I digress.

While the monument is better than I expected (see my Thoughts on the She Built NYC Monument Debacle), I’m sorry to say I’m not a big fan. As far as contemporary art goes, it’s fine; it just doesn't suit my taste. That said, I have plenty of friends who disagree and absolutely love it. At least I think we can all agree that it's better than the heinous “Medusa with the Head of Perseus” monstrosity that was installed the following day outside New York County Criminal Court in Lower Manhattan.

Quite frankly, my real problem with the monument is not artistic or the location, it's the association with Cuomo. Sure, it was his brainchild, but the Governor’s stance on abortion alone should have precluded him from having anything to do with this project. Yes we are all sinners, but abortion is irreconcilable with Catholicism; and to me, there is something perverse about having this hypocrite’s name engraved on a statue of a Catholic Saint.

Also, the project wasn’t done in good faith. Far from any true devotion to Mother Cabrini (the bad blood between the Governor and Mayor is well documented), it was clearly green lighted to score some cheap political points and to spite Mayor de Blasio, whose wife Chirlane McCray failed to uphold the results of her own statue contest and snubbed the undisputed winner to suit her own biased political agenda.

Mother Cabrini is absolutely deserving of any and all recognition for her saintly life and I would love to see more monuments dedicated to her and other Catholic heroes. However, right now this city is dying and every single penny should be spent on policing and rebuilding New York City’s crumbling infrastructure. Stop squandering resources on noxious social projects, ridiculous street murals, and unnecessary monuments in these shameless self-promoting vanity projects. Our beloved patroness would be appalled by the insufferable misuse of funding and the godlessness of the corrupt buffoons in charge.

~ Giovanni di Napoli, October 28th, Feast of Saints Simon and Jude