Sexist Statue That Everyone Hates Might Be Coming to Brooklyn!
When Anthony Weiner thinks something crosses the line, you just know it’s got to be outrageous.
He is not, after all, a man of the most refined tastes.
The Wall Street Journal reports that a statue in Queens that Weiner once railed against (ABSOLUTELY no pun intended, because ewww) because it showcased a misogynistic worldview, is probably moving to Brooklyn.
The statue, designed by Frederick MacMonnies, is a 22-ton marble sculpture that is supposed to depict, and is thus named, the “Triumph of Civic Virtue.”
What could be so contentious about that?
Can’t we all get behind civic virtue?
No! We can’t.
We don’t want to stand behind “civic virtue” because it means getting mooned by some marble dude holding a sword and standing, triumphant, over the writhing forms of two women who are supposed to represent “vice and corruption.”
Typical women.
The statue has had a storied history of people wanting it moved far, far away from them. It was originally placed, in 1922, in front of City Hall until Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia had it moved to Kew Gardens, Queens in 1941. Now, after years of Queens residents—including but not limited to Weiner—asking for its removal, the WSJ reports that “City Council Member Peter Vallone Jr. said he was told by the city this week that the statue was being moved to Green-Wood Cemetery. Family members of Frederick MacMonnies, who designed it, are said to be interred there.”
Although it is not officially going to happen, Queens residents have suddenly embraced the statue for reasons as heartfelt and emotionally stirring as “it’s been here forever” and it’s “good for directions” and also “it doesn’t bother me.”
Unfortunately, there are no comments from the residents of Queens who have seemed to enjoy the statue the most over the years.
I’m talking, of course, about the pigeons.
Their presence is evident all over the statue.
Literally all over it, but especially on good old civic virtue’s head.
But, yeah. The pigeons remain silent on this one.
