Actor Chazz Palminteri called first lady Chirlane McCray a “racist” for snubbing Italian American icon Mother Frances Cabrini in the “She Built NYC” competition to erect statues of great women.
“Absolutely, she is being racist,” the “Bronx Tale” actor and writer said on the “Bernie & Sid” show on 77 WABC radio Friday. “C’mon. As Italian Americans we have to speak up. If you’re an Italian American and your’e listening to us right now, and if you have any soul in you, you have to do something. Stand up and do something.”
The city asked New Yorkers which female greats deserved statues, and Cabrini got the most votes — but McCray and former Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen ultimately ignored the results and selected several others for the honor, leading to backlash from the Catholic community.
Of the seven that were chosen, three are black — singer Billie Holiday, Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm and LGBTQ activist Marsha Johnson, a self-described drag queen who sometimes identified as a woman.
Two others being honored are abortion-rights activist Helen Rodriguez Trias and transgender advocate Sylvia Rivera — both of whom are Hispanic.
Rivera and Johnson are slated to share a monument in Manhattan.
Only one of the statues will honor a white woman — Katherine Walker, who kept the Robbins reef Lighthouse burning in New York Harbor for 30 years.
Phil Foglia of the Italian-Americans Legal Defense and Higher Education Fund, who joined Palminteri on the air, said he wrote McCray last month that the decision to ignore Cabrini “can only be seen as an insult to Italian-Americans.”
“The People of NYC deserve an explanation for this arbitrary decision that flies in the face of the nominating process and this disheartening gesture of disrespect to the Italian-American community,” Foglia’s letter said.
McCray responded in a letter dated Sept. 25 that Cabrini “led a remarkable life” and “set an example of compassion and leadership that resonates powerfully today.”
However, the first lady failed to explain the decision, saying only that “it will take many more years to correct centuries of neglect and the glaring gender and ethnic imbalance in our public spaces.”
Palminteri, who noted that October is Italian Heritage Month, said it’s not good enough.
“She has to have a statue,” the actor said. “This is strong, and we’re not going to stop until somebody rectifies the situation.”
City Hall said that Cabrini could, however, get a statue in the future but provided no details.
“Chazz Palminteri’s statement is ludacris [sic] and those who would like the Cabrini statue are invited to meet with [Department of Cultural Affairs] Commissioner [Tom] Finkelpearl to learn more about the process,” McCray spokeswoman Jaclyn Rothenberg said in an emailed statement.