Cuomo Will Build His Own Mother Cabrini Statue

NEW YORK — Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced plans Monday to build his own statue of Mother Frances Cabrini, drawing the first American saint into his longstanding feud with Mayor Bill de Blasio.

The Democratic governor's Columbus Day announcement was a culmination of rapidly mounting criticism of Cabrini's initial exclusion from a city initiative to build statues of notable women.

De Blasio said Friday that the city would include a Cabrini monument in the second round of its "She Built NYC" program. But that apparently wasn't fast enough for Cuomo, whose office said the state will fund and site a statue in partnership with the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, the Columbus Citizens Foundation and others.

"With this statue I think the Italian-American community, the Catholic community in New York that feels strongly about Mother Cabrini and what she represents, that they will feel satisfied that she is being represented," Cuomo said at the annual Columbus Day Parade in Manhattan, where de Blasio was reportedly booed.

"This city, this state — our asset is our diversity but to keep the diversity positive, everyone has to feel included," he added.

The actor Chazz Palminteri thrust Cabrini into the headlines Friday when he called into WNYC to ask the mayor why the patron saint of immigants had not been chosen for a statue despite getting more nominations than any other historical figure.

The question evolved into a debate about race, ethnicity and inclusion as de Blasio fired back at Palminteri for calling first lady Chirlane McCray racist over the statue snub. McCray is spearheading She Built NYC, which so far includes planned statues of seven noteworthy women.

Cuomo demanded a statue a day later before pulling the trigger on a state-sponsored sculpture. The governor will name a panel of Italian-American leaders to pick an artist and a location for the monument, his office said.

The fast-moving controversy was just the latest episode in de Blasio and Cuomo's lengthy and often petty political feud. The pair have previously bickered over control of the New York City subway, the death of a 6-year-old boy and a vagrant deer that appeared in Harlem.

The Democratic mayor sounded exasperated by what he called a "fake, manufactured conflict" during a Monday night interview on NY1. The purpose of She Built NYC, he said, is to "right a bigger wrong" by building statues of a wide range of notable women over time rather than spark a fight over the first sculptures.

"This is a classic example in this city of a small grain of information turns into a controversy, and it’s got race and it’s got ethnicity and religion and everyone decides to weigh in," de Blasio said. "And, you know, it’s kind of sad actually, because the folks involved who wanted to see her honored, all they had to do was pick up the phone and say, 'Hey, is this something we can do in an upcoming round?' And the answer would have been, obviously, yes."