Cuomo Wants Saint Statue That Sparked De Blasio's Spat With Actor

NEW YORK — Gov. Andrew Cuomo joined calls Saturday for a statue honoring Mother Frances Cabrini as he suggested New York City's failure to build one was an example of "disrespect" for Italian-Americans.

The Democratic governor's demand at the Columbus Citizens Foundation gala came a day after Mayor Bill de Blasio bickered with the actor Chazz Palminteri on live radio over the saint's exclusion from the city's "She Built NYC" initiative.

"Let's stand up and demand respect for our community," Cuomo told the crowd. "Let's lead the way by taking action and let's build a memorial to Mother Cabrini — and I pledge my full support tonight."

Known as the patron saint of immigrants who established several hospitals and orphanages, Cabrini got more nominations than any other historical figure when the de Blasio administration asked New Yorkers which notable women should be honored with new statues.

But she was nevertheless not among the first seven women selected through the She Built NYC program spearheaded by first lady Chirlane McCray.

Cuomo likened the snub to calls two years ago for the city to take down the famous statue of Christopher Columbus at Columbus Circle, which Native American activists called an inappropriate monument to a man who tortured and killed scores of indigenous people.

"For all our progress, for all our efforts we must still be vigilant and active in demanding respect for the Italian American community," Cuomo said Saturday. "We have seen disrespect for our community when they wanted to take down the statue of Christopher Columbus and thanks to the people in this room, the statue was saved. We have seen it just recently."

A city commission tasked with reviewing the Columbus statue and other controversial monuments decided to leave the sculpture in place with historical markers detailing the explorer's history. She Built NYC grew out of that panel's review.

Cuomo's demand came amid a spat between de Blasio, a Democrat, and Palminteri, the Bronx-born actor who took the mayor to task over the Cabrini snub Friday on WNYC. De Blasio fired back at Palminteri for calling his wife "racist" because the saint was not selected for a statue.

Spokespeople for the mayor did not immediately comment on Cuomo's remarks. But de Blasio said Friday that Cabrini would likely get a statue in the second round of the She Built NYC initiative.

"Her name is clearly at the top of the list because she’s an outstanding figure in New York history, and obviously it would mean a lot to a lot of people," the mayor said.