The “Civic Virtue” statue stood outside Queens Borough Hall for more than 70 years before it was moved to Brooklyn in December 2012. File Photo
The fight over Civic Virtue continued in Queens this week, with Borough President Melinda Katz coming out against its installation in front of Borough Hall.
A spokesman for Katz said the borough president had plans to instead build a plaza in tribute to women and no intentions on bringing the controversial statue back despite community leaders’ staunch opposition to its removal in the first place. The debate was reignited earlier this month when Community Board 9 heard testimony calling for its return to Queens Boulevard.
“This is about holding Melinda Katz accountable,” said Richard Iritano, leader of the Civic Virtue Task Force – a group determined to bring the statue back. “This is not the idea of democracy she has been preaching. It would behoove her to listen to the people and act upon their wishes and edicts and allow them to make decisions.”
The statue, completed in 1919 by artist Frederick MacMonnies, showed a nearly naked Heracles, who personified civic virtue, holding a sword over two Sirens that represent vice and corruption. It was dedicated in 1922 and originally put outside Manhattan’s City Hall before being moved to Queens in 1941.
Critics of the 22-ton statue often argued it was a depiction of sexism and should be removed. The movement received some support from elected officials, including former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and others.
“I don’t understand why people give this sculpture a meaning it doesn’t have,” said Mary Ann Carey, district manager for CB 9. “They aren’t two women, they’re just two Sirens. They have tails. I don’t know any women who have tails.”
The statue was moved in December 2012 when the Department of Citywide Administrative Services loaned it to the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, where some members of the MacMonnies family are buried.
But Iritano said the decision to remove Civic Virtue was made swiftly and quietly despite widespread community opposition to doing so. On his side were several other current elected representatives, including state Sen. Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) and City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Maspeth).
For Iritano, the fight has remained important to the struggle of power between a government and its citizens.
“We paid for that statue as taxpayers. This is a dereliction of public duty,” he said. “Nobody asked for this public women’s square the borough president is exploring. Shouldn’t we have a final say?”
Robert LoScalzo, a documentary filmmaker and member of the task force, reported via a Freedom of Information Law Request that $49,464 city dollars went towards the restoration work of the statue and another $49,801 paid for its transportation. He and Iritano argued it was costing taxpayers money despite their best wishes.
“Now that this public art has been restored at taxpayer expense, it needs to be put back on display on Queens Boulevard so the public can enjoy what our tax dollars have accomplished – not banished to a graveyard among the dead,” Iritano said.
The task force has also called for several other changes in regards to the statue, including one at Green-Wood, where Iritano argued the cemetery inaccurately depicts the taxpayer funding of the statue’s cleaning and conservation. The group has also called for the statue’s fountain base on Queens Boulevard to be repaired and turned on daily as an accessory to the restored statue.
“The plumbing infrastructure is all there and in decent condition,” Carey said. “It would require some maintenance, and then the water can be turned back on.”
By Phil Corso
