As I predicted, the Rizzo statue is returned to rightful owners
“It’s about time. It’s great news,” said Della Barba. “It was worth the fight.”
The statue of former Mayor Frank L. Rizzo, illegally removed and disgracefully stashed in a Northeast warehouse for five years, is about to be released, and then restored to public view.
In an exclusive interview with avenging attorney George Bochetto, I learned the city had signed an agreement to return the statue to its owner, and then prepare it for public display. The owner is the Frank L. Rizzo Monument Committee, headed by Jody Della Barba.
“It’s about time. It’s great news,” said Della Barba. “It was worth the fight.”
The last detail required was approval from the Philadelphia Art Commission, and that came Wednesday morning.
Former Pennsylvania Boxing Commissioner Bochetto, whose nickname ought to be Statuesque, because of his physique, and his defense of statues of public interest. He last prevented the city from illegally removing the statue of explorer Christopher Columbus from Marconi Plaza in South Philadelphia.
The city agreed to transport the Rizzo statue, and to make an $80,000 contribution to the committee in compensation for damage to the statue that occurred during its removal.
In return, the committee agreed to some limitations on where the statue can be displayed within the city limits. The committee will be meeting soon to discuss a location.
The Inquirer on Wednesday posted a background story, with a biased headline that called the statue “a symbol of racial strife.”
Not the first Italian elected to lead the city, not a man with 40 years of public service, not a two-term mayor who created the Center City commuter tunnel, fought to keep the Navy Yard open, and funded the African-American Museum, among other achievements. No, only “a symbol of racial strife,” which he may have been to some.
It’s OK. Victory is sweet, and somewhere former mayor Jim Kenney is drowning his sorrow in booze, because his unlawful legacy has been reversed.
