Queens Rallies Against Civic Virtue Move

Queens residents rallied over the weekend to protest the pending move of "The Triumph of Civic Virtue," a statue that can't seem to escape controversy no matter where it stands.

The statue, according to a story in Windsor Terrace-Kensington Patch, is scheduled to be moved this week from its current locale outside Queens Borough Hall in Kew Gardens to Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn.

It has been a lightning-rod for controversy in the past, drawing ire for depicting a man standing astride two female figures. 

Defenders of the statue say it is an important piece of city art, and that the females in the statue are intended to be serpents representing "vice and corruption" which have taken human form.

A rally on Saturday garnered some attention, according to the New York Post, including City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., who is one of several Queens leaders sticking up for the statue.

Others, including Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, have said they'd rather see the statue moved and replaced with a monument to important women of Queens.

A "Triumph of Civic Virtue" advocacy group has sprung up, hoping to prevent the move by citing a city charter ruling saying the statue move should be preceeded by a public hearing.