(PresidentialWire.com)- New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was reportedly not invited to this year’s Columbus Day festivities. The New York Times reported how the chairman of the Columbus Citizens Foundation, Angelo Vivolo, confirmed that the mayor wasn’t invited to take part in the event that replaced the usual Columbus Day parade.
The usual festivities were canceled this year as a result of the Chinese coronavirus pandemic.
Vivolo said during a virtual “2020 Columbus Citizens Foundation Italian Heritage & Achievement Special” event that the mayor “wasn’t invited.” He did, however, blame a tight schedule and said that there was “no ulterior motive.”
The New York Post reported how Mayor de Blasio had previously been invited to take part in the Columbus Day parades, but that there is tension between the mayor and the Columbus Citizens Foundation.
“Tensions between members of the Columbus Citizens Foundation and de Blasio and his wife, Chirlane McCray, exploded last year after City Hall failed to include Mother Frances Cabrini – the beloved Italian American patron saint of immigrants – on its list of famous women to be honored with statues as part of the first lady’s ‘She Built NYC’ program,” The Post previously reported.
After the controversy blew up, Mayor de Blasio announced that he would use state funds to erect a new statue of Mother Cabrini. It was unveiled in Battery Park on Monday, where New York Governor Andrew Cuomo attended.
“This year we unveil a magnificent monument to our Italian-American legacy and that monument will stand for all-time,” Governor Cuomo said before unveiling a statue of Mother Cabrini on Columbus Day in Manhattan’s Battery Park City. https://t.co/TDxrv2VGw7 pic.twitter.com/AYbRPhNXIO
— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) October 12, 2020
City Hall downplayed the snub from the Columbus Day festivities organizers, saying that he would “not have been able to attend” anyway as he is “out of state visiting family.”
Governor Andrew Cuomo also delivered remarks at the virtual Columbus Day Parade in place of Mayor Bill de Blasio.
