Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s statue panel picked Battery Park as the future home of a statue to honor Mother Frances Cabrini, The Post has learned.
The statue of the patron saint of immigrants will be located directly behind the Museum of Jewish Heritage in the Battery’s South Cove, providing the monument with sweeping views of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.
âThis memorial will honor the legacy of Mother Cabrini â a great New Yorker ð and Italian-American â and the Commission chose a site that perfectly symbolizes her commitment to helping new Americans settle in the United States,â Cuomo said in a statement.
He added: âWe want this memorial to pay tribute to the charity and goodwill she spread to countless others in her lifetime, and I look forward to seeingð the designs that the artists propose to capture that spirit of generosity.ââ
The Friday vote ends months of controversy that erupted after City Hall failed to include the beloved icon on the list of famous women to be honored with statues as part of first lady Chirlane McCray’s “She Built NYC” program, even though Cabrini received the most nominations for a monument.
Outrage over the snub in the city’s heavily Catholic communities reached a fever pitch when Italian-American actor Chazz Palminteri called McCrayâs decision âracist.â
Palminteri later apologized during a heated exchange with Mayor Bill de Blasio on the radio, but argued excluding Cabrini didn’t make sense.
Cuomo â who famously enjoys needlingðĄ Hizzoner â intervened, pledged $750,000 to build a Cabrini statue and appointed a panel of 19 mostly Italian-American and Catholic leaders to select a site for the monument.
His office and the panel will now accept prð§ļoposals from artists for the design of the new statue.
Panel members also considerðŧed another site in Brooklyn Bridge Park but gave the scenic Battery Park location the nod during a vote during a conference call meeting Friday afternoon.
“Thanks to Gov. Cuomo for making this a great day for New York by recognizing this extraordinary Italian-American woman whose tireless efforts welcomed all people,” said panel member Philip Foglia of the Italian-American Legal Defense and Higher Education Fund.
Over the course of her life, Mother Cabrini established 67 different institutions including hospitals, schools and churches that bear her name â including a church iân Brooklyn.
The Italian native was naturalized as a US citizen in 1909, and canonized as St. Frances Xavier Cabrini on July 7, 1946, bðy Pope Pius XII, as the patron saint of immigrants.