Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Best coverage of lame press conference

From the Queens Tribune:

The work depicts a cherub-faced, nearly-naked man who oddly resembles actor Matt Damon standing victorious over vice and corruption, as embodied by two strange siren/mermaid hybrids, their faces and bodies crumpled in visible agony...

U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Kew Gardens) and Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras (D-East Elmhurst) held a tongue-in-cheek press conference damning the artwork as sexist and insensitive to women, calling for its sale via Craigslist.

"It's ugly and offensive today and we want it out of Queens," Weiner said. "It represents an eyesore. This statue is neither civil nor virtuous - and it's time for it to go."

But defenders of the statue lambasted the electeds' claims, criticizing their misinterpretation of an artistic work. More than differing interpretations, some outlined a notable point: after having laced history books with notorious surnames like Donald Manes, Alan Hevesi, Brian McLaughlin, Anthony Seminerio and Hiram Monserrate, maybe a sculpted rock is the closest Queens can come to actual civic virtue.


OH YEAH!

And our old friend Sergey weighed in on the controversy:

To The Editor:

With an ongoing recession and a civil war brewing in Libya, it was unbelievable to see my local congressman grandstanding before the press to remove "Triumph of Civic Virtue," the famed but neglected nude sculpture, from the lawn of Borough Hall. If Anthony Weiner had some appreciation of art history, he would understand that the image is an allegory, and not an endorsement of chauvinism. It is shameful enough to live in a borough where history is paved over by development and crumbling away in neglect.

Now, we have the forces of political correctness working to destroy our borough's history. The fact that the statue was designed by Frederick MacMonnies, sculpted by the Piccirilli brothers, and funded by a woman named Angelina Crane does not deter Weiner. Neither does the fact that my mother, who happens to be a woman and a voter, finds no offense with the statue, and is more offended by the ongoing recession and rising gas prices.

As an art educator, I tell my students that a monument serves as a physical link to the past, its ideas and its imagery. Even fascist, communist and Confederate monuments have much to teach us about the societies they represented, as opposed to a society that only cares about its own moment in the sun.

Perhaps some elected officials would prefer a rootless Queens, where a Flushing film palace is collapsing, space-age towers from the 1964 World's Fair are rusting, and an allegorical statue that condemns corruption is crumbling. I pray that Queens will be saved for future generations to cherish.

Sergey Kadinsky
Rego Park

Greenwood Cemetery has expressed interest.

And Weiner's proposal has made him look like an ass country-wide!

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why don't they name it the "Edward I. Koch Civic Virtue Triumphant Over Unrighteousness Monument" That way everyone will be happy.

Anonymous said...

Why don't they name it the "Edward I. Koch Civic Virtue Triumphant Over Unrighteousness Monument" That way everyone will be happy.

I'm down with that.

nyc sleuth said...

Atta boy Sergey! Telling it like it is.

Meli said...

You see the craigslist ad for it? (It was on CW11). I couldn't believe how they degraded that statue.

Something like:

For Sale - Tasteless, sexist degrading statue.

WTH!

Sergey Kadinsky said...

All due respect to Rego Park, but I live in Forest Hills, not Rego Park.

Auntie Invasion said...

If this statue had the head of a black male and not a woman , the statue would have been torn down years ago.

about time for it to go.

Kevin Walsh said...

I sent a polite note to Weiner's office a week ago about this. No response.

www.forgotten-ny.com

Anonymous said...

don't be fooled by weiner and his local liberal/democrats.
this statue incident is a smoke screen to keep the taxpayers interest away from the obamacare scandal that is occurring.

over 100 waivers,not to be forced into obamacare, have been given to public union groups across the nation, by the democrat administration. many are obama supporters ,financially and vote getting operations.

and please do not bother to call us about your high gas prices of $4.00 per gallon."ACKERMAN AND SCHUMER" IT MUST BE REAGAN'S FAULT.

Anonymous said...

"don't be fooled by weiner and his local liberal/democrats.
this statue incident is a smoke screen to keep the taxpayers interest away from the obamacare scandal that is occurring.'


What a disillusional old coot.

By that "reasoning" The Great Recession was just a smokescreen to divert attention from the two failed wars in the middle east.

BTW: It was that "communist" Harry Truman who first proposed a National Health Service -something every other civilized industrial nation adopted.

"Obamacare" -as the nutjobs call it may be far from perfect, but it's a start.

Rego-Forester said...

Please read "Civic Virtue Drowning In Politics" on the Rego-Forest Preservation Council Blog:

http://regoforestpreservation.blogspot.com/2011/02/civic-virtue-drowning-in-politics.html

Anonymous said...

RE: the liberal sicko,
Rep.J.Shimkus confronting H.H.S.Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on the Obamacare accounting gimmick on Thursday.

"there is an issue on the budget because your own actuary has said you can't "DOUBLE COUNT".
"whats the $500 billion in cuts for ?... Are you using it to save Medicare or are you using it for health care reform?

SHE RESPONDED "BOTH".

can the same $500 billion be used both for (1) extending the life of the current program, and(2) for funding its new mandates?

"BERNIE MADOFF ACCOUNTING ?"

ny post ,3/8/11 SEBELIUS HIT FOR BAMACARE "TRICK"

"you have to pass the bill to find out what is in it" cong. nancy pelosi. remember in november 2012.

Anonymous said...

Re: Anon No. 11 -

You're demonizing again.

Do you have a better plan?

Anonymous said...

If that old battle ax Jawin dyes her hair any redder she could ride in the chief's car as an official FDNY groupie.

H-m-m-m-m...she looks like she's in need of a good "hosing".

Anonymous said...

Jawin's a tough old broad, but what does she actually do to merit an office at "burro hall" besides generate publicity for herself?

I'd like a rent free office too.

Uh---Borough Prez Marshal---can I kiss your ass too?

Jerry Rotondi, Comm. To Save Keith's said...

That crumbling Flushing film palace (RKO Keith's) is in a sorry state because the Shul-Manes administration refused to support the LPC's desire to grant interior landmark status to the entire theater.

Tommy Huang may have served as Flushing's bad boy/contractor by swinging the sledgehammer---but it was Manes, followed by Shulman, who were the architects of its destruction!

Anonymous said...

Don't you all got something better to do on the taxpayer's dime?

What a crowd.

You'd never see these dudes show up at a Willets Point land grab protest rally.

Granny Shulman would spank them!

Claire Shillman said...

"Perhaps some elected officials would prefer a rootless Queens, where a Flushing film palace is collapsing, space-age towers from the 1964 World's Fair are rusting, and an allegorical statue that condemns corruption is crumbling."
-------------------------------------------------
B I N G O

Anonymous said...

Bravo Sergey!

Anonymous said...

Look into the history of the office of Queens' borough presidents.

Most of them were crooks involved in payola or one scandal or another..

In fact, borough hall has been rife with corruption from its very inception.

That's why they want the statue removed.

It serves to point the finger at the borough presidents' roles in selling off our borough to developers.

There's no civic virtue being practiced in Helen Marshal's office so why should there be a marble effigy extolling honesty outside?

Paul Mc said...

I'm glad to see that "Uncle Fred" is still causing trouble from beyond the grave :)

If Mr Weiner wants to pay the shipping costs I would love to have the statue in my bark garden here in the UK!

Paul McMonnies

Anonymous said...

Apparently today's politicians have no regard for those who grew up in this area, and have personal memories connected to that statue (as well as to the decaying remains of Flushing Meadow Park). I'm sure we'll all remember that at the polls.