Civic Virtue Task Forcej 107-41 107th Street • Ozone Park, New York 11417-2316

*** NEWS RELEASE ***Triumph of Civic Virtue Task Force announces initiative to return the newly-cleaned CivicVirtue statue to its Queens Boulevard home; demands immediate removal of false informationfrom sign installed in front of Civic Virtue by Green-Wood cemetery

Queens, New York – June 6, 2014For immediate releaseContact: Richard Iritano / Civic Virtue Task Force

917-837-2573718-835-6948CivicVirtueTaskForce@gmail.com

Queens community activists and art appreciators have formed the "Civic Virtue TaskForce" to plan and advocate for the return of the newly-cleaned and conserved Triumph of CivicVirtue statue from Green-Wood Cemetery, where it was moved temporarily in 2012, back to itshome on Queens Boulevard where it had been on display for 71 years. The Task Force has metwith representatives of Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, and has inspected the colossalstatue at the cemetery where it is on temporary loan.

"Civic Virtue really sparkles and shines now. It must be seen to be believed. The cleaninghas done wonders for it," remarked Task Force member and activist Richard Iritano upon seeingCivic Virtue at Green-Wood cemetery. "Now that this public art has been restored at taxpayerexpense, it needs to be put back on display on Queens Boulevard so the public can enjoy whatour tax dollars have accomplished – not banished to a graveyard among the dead."

At present, the Civic Virtue Task Force counts among its members Mary Ann Carey(District Manager, Queens Community Board 9), Ralph Gonzalez (Chairperson, QueensCommunity Board 9), Richard Iritano (activist), Robert LoScalzo (documentary media producerwho sued the City in 2013 to obtain Civic Virtue records) and Jon Torodash (activist and founderof www.triumphofcivicvirtue.org). The Task Force has the support of City Council memberElizabeth Crowley.

Triumph of Civic Virtue is a 22-ton colossal monument statue originally dedicated in1922, commissioned by a New York City Mayor using funds bequeathed to the City by AngelinaCrane. The statue was designed by Frederick William MacMonnies, a well known Americansculptor of the Beaux-Arts school, and carved by the Piccirilli brothers, who also created thestatue of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial. The statue depicts Heracles – as thepersonification of civic virtue – towering above two Sirens symbolizing vice and corruption. In1941, Civic Virtue was moved to public property adjacent to Queens Borough Hall overlookingQueens Boulevard, where it remained an asset to Queens on display for the next 71 years.

In 2012, despite the protests of local officials and residents, the City administrationrapidly executed a plan to move Civic Virtue from Queens Boulevard to Green-Wood cemeteryin Brooklyn. In doing so, the few proponents of the move parroted two utterly false pretexts:

first, that Civic Virtue depicts a man stomping on two women; and second, that Civic Virtue hadto be relocated to Green-Wood in order to clean and conserve it.

In fact, Civic Virtue does not depict any women at all. (Indeed, the statue wascommissioned by a woman, who would never have consented to any derogatory depiction ofwomen.) Rather, the statue shows Heracles as the personification of Civic Virtue, activelytriumphing over two tempting Sirens – which are non-human, allegorical figures that even havetails protruding from their backs – symbolizing vice and corruption. "I don't understand whypeople give this sculpture a meaning it doesn't have," said Mary Ann Carey, District Manager,Queens Community Board 9. "They aren't two women, they're just two Sirens. They have tails. Idon't know any women who have tails."

The second pretext – that Civic Virtue had to be relocated to Green-Wood in order toclean and conserve it – is equally false. As a FOIL request and lawsuit filed in 2013 by RobertLoScalzo revealed, it was not Green-Wood that paid to clean and conserve Civic Virtue, butrather, New York City taxpayers. Not only did taxpayers pony up $49,464.00 for "all labor,materials and equipment necessary for the conservation of the Civic Virtue sculpture" (per theCity's Request for Proposals pertaining to that work and the response of Kreilick Conservation,LLC, which was awarded the job), but the taxpayers then parted with an additional $49,801.00for the design and "fabrication of a custom armature for Civic Virtue" for the purpose oftransporting the statue from Queens Boulevard to Green-Wood (per the City's Request forProposals pertaining to that work and the response of Surroundart, LLC, which was awarded thejob). All told, the City spent taxpayer dollars totaling $99,265.00 on Civic Virtue during 2012.Had Civic Virtue been cleaned and conserved on Queens Boulevard instead of being moved toGreen-Wood, the taxpayers would have either saved $49,801.00 of the total cost, or that sumcould have been dedicated to additional future conservation of the statue. In any event, it wassimply unnecessary to move Civic Virtue to Green-Wood, contrary to what proponents of themove said during 2012.

Given that Civic Virtue was moved to Green-Wood over the objections of local officialsand residents, and that City taxpayers footed bills totaling $99,265.00 to not only conserve CivicVirtue but to aid and abet its move to Green-Wood, the Task Force was amazed to find during arecent visit to Green-Wood that the cemetery has installed a sign in front of Civic Virtue thatdenies both of those facts, and conveys false and misleading information about thecircumstances of Civic Virtue's temporary loan to Green-Wood.

Greenwood's plainly inaccurate sign states (1.) that the City of New York "could notafford to conserve" Civic Virtue and was "without the funds to do so"; and (2.) that the Citycould not afford the conservation expense because Civic Virtue "lacked the support of localofficials". Those statements only promulgate the self-serving, false narrative that Green-Woodhas concocted around Civic Virtue, and they could not be further from the truth.

"Green-Wood may have hauled Civic Virtue into the cemetery, but that doesn't entitleGreen-Wood to re-write history, and to mis-inform the statue's visitors about the taxpayerfunding of the statue's cleaning and conservation, or the fact that elected officials and the public

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actually pleaded to keep Civic Virtue on Queens Boulevard," said Task Force member RobertLoScalzo.

Accordingly, on June 5, 2014, the Task Force sent letters to Green-Wood PresidentRichard Moylan and to Public Design Commission President Signe Nielsen, demanding thatGreen-Wood immediately remove its false and misleading sign, and that any prospectivereplacement sign be subject to a public hearing and approval by the Public Design Commission.

Meanwhile, the Task Force is not only advocating the return of Civic Virtue to QueensBoulevard, but also wants the statue's fountain base there to be repaired and the fountain to beturned on every day as an accessory to the restored statue. "The plumbing infrastructure is allthere and in decent condition," says Queens Community Board 9 District Manager Mary AnnCarey. "It would require some maintenance, and then the water can be turned back on."

A newly-restored Civic Virtue statue returned to a functioning fountain base on QueensBoulevard would be a sight to behold – and far superior to the plan already shown by the Cityfor the Queens Boulevard site, which leaves the fountain inoperative as a mere "planted ruin."

At a meeting held at Queens Borough Hall on April 8, 2014, the Civic Virtue Task Forcemet with Barry Grodenchik of the Queen Borough President's Office and Nayelli Valencia, theOffice's Director of Cultural Affairs and Tourism. The Task Force advocated for the return ofCivic Virtue to the Queens Boulevard site, and against the City's preposterous plan to leave thesite as a planted ruin. The discussion also touched on the fact that Queens Borough PresidentMelinda Katz is promoting the restoration of the 1964 World's Fair New York State Pavillion,with an estimated cost of $40 million – but Civic Virtue, which is already restored, can bereturned to display on Queens Boulevard for just a small fraction of that cost – perhaps$100,000.00. In that sense, Civic Virtue is low-hanging fruit, and its return to Queens arguablyshould be prioritized. Its presence again on Queens Boulevard, this time accessorized by afunctioning fountain base, would provide a spectacular new image for the Borough of Queensand would enhance public appreciation of sculptural art.

In the eight weeks since the meeting at Borough Hall, neither Mr. Grodenchik nor Ms.Valencia has returned multiple telephone voicemails seeking to follow up and ascertain whetheror not Queens Borough President Melinda Katz will support the efforts of the Task Force. As wesee it, Ms. Katz has before her a golden opportunity to help correct the wrong that was donewhen Civic Virtue was evicted from Queens, against the will of the residents of Kew Gardensand beyond – and we hope that Ms. Katz will recognize the importance of taking action on thisworthy cause. In any case, the Task Force will work to garner the support of as many officialsand residents as possible.

Triumph of Civic Virtue is expected to be a topic during the upcoming meeting ofQueens Community Board 9 on Tuesday, June 10, 2014 at 7:45PM, to be held at MajesticMarquise, 88-03 101 Avenue, Ozone Park, New York 11416.

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