STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Mayor Eric Adams introduced Thursday {that a} dormant program devoted to historic New York Metropolis girls is again, and a well-known Staten Island lighthouse keeper can be considered one of 5 honored with a statue.
Former Mayor Invoice de Blasio launched the She Constructed NYC program in 2018 as a method to honor girls and ladies’s historical past in New York Metropolis with statues to 5 notable girls in every of the 5 boroughs.
The challenge had been on maintain since 2019, partly due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, however Adams introduced final 12 months that the town had acquired approval for a Brooklyn statue to Shirley Chisholm, the primary Black lady elected to Congress.
Now, Adams is reviving your complete challenge with statues deliberate for Katherine Walker on Staten Island, Billie Vacation in Queens, Dr. Helen Rodríguez Trías within the Bronx, and Elizabeth Jennings Graham in Manhattan.
“As we shut out Girls’s Historical past Month, we keep in mind that every single day is a chance to rejoice the ladies who’ve led and constructed New York Metropolis into the best metropolis on this planet,” Adams stated. “These extraordinary girls saved lives, challenged racial and gender obstacles, and overcame all odds to turn into leaders in every of their respective fields. In the present day, I’m proud that their legacy will eternally be enshrined by means of public monuments throughout the 5 boroughs — open to all New Yorkers to see, be taught, and perceive their impression on our metropolis.”
Prior plans had Walker’s monument slated for the St. George Ferry Terminal, however will now be included within the metropolis’s North Shore Motion Plan spearheaded by the New York Metropolis Financial Growth Company.
A German immigrant, Walker arrived at Robbins Reef Lighthouse, formally in New Jersey however only a mile off Staten Island’s North Shore, in 1885 together with her husband, John Walker, who was working because the lighthouse keeper, according to the National Park Service.
After her husband’s loss of life, Katherine Walker served as principal lighthouse keeper at Robbins Reef from from 1894 to 1919, according to the National Park Service.
Katherine Walker spent little day without work Robbins Reef, however would row throughout to Staten Island for provides and for her youngsters’s education.
The native honoree is credited with saving the lives of at the very least 50 folks throughout her time at Robbins Reef and sustaining the sunshine that helped information ships to secure passage by means of the Kill Van Kull.
“Public artwork is how we present the world who we’re and what we worth, and I’m overjoyed to get these thrilling tasks honoring extraordinary girls from New York historical past again underway,” Division of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Laurie Cumbo stated. “As Girls’s HERstory Month attracts to a detailed, that is one important method we are able to proceed to construct on the hard-won rights and recognition that our predecessors fought so arduous for. In each borough, from pioneering docs and artists to advocates and selfless public servants, we’re dedicated to recognizing these achievements, whereas bringing unbelievable, dynamic public artworks to our metropolis’s open areas.”
In keeping with Adams’ workplace, the town will announce plans at a later date for a monument honoring LGBTQ+ activists and pioneers Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera in Manhattan.
The prior iteration of the statue challenge drew controversy throughout the de Blasio administration after a interval of public enter noticed St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, generally referred to as Mom Cabrini, excluded from this system regardless of receiving the best variety of public nominations.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the end unveiled a statue to Cabrini in October 2020 in Battery Park Metropolis successfully ending the controversy.
