Community Corner

Queens Rallies Against Civic Virtue Move

Residents stick up for statue scheduled to move this week.

Queens residents rallied over the weekend to protest the pending move of "The Triumph of Civic Virtue," a statue that can't seem to escape controversy no matter where it stands.

The statue, according to a story in Windsor Terrace-Kensington Patch, is scheduled to be moved this week to Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.

It has been a lightning-rod for controversy in the past, drawing ire for depicting a man standing astride two female figures. 

Find out what's happening in Forest Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Defenders of the statue say it is an important piece of city art, and that the females in the statue are intended to be serpents representing "vice and corruption" which have taken human form.

A rally on Saturday garnered some attention, according to the New York Post, including City Councilman Peter Vallone, who is one of few Queens leaders sticking up for the statue.

Find out what's happening in Forest Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Others, like Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, have said they'd rather see the statue moved and replaced with a monument to important women of Queens.

A "Triumph of Civic Virtue" advocacy group has sprung up, hoping to prevent the move by citing a city charter ruling saying the statue move should be preceeded by a public hearing. 

What do you think? Should it stay or should it go? Let us know what you think in the comments.


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