“Absolutely. We welcome the mayor, we respect the mayor,” Angelo Vivolo, chairman of the Columbus Citizens Foundation, said Friday, without disclosing the shift of opinion.
The mayor, who has had a long-running dispute with the city’s Italian-American community, wasn't invited to last year’s virtual event.
Disgraced ex-Gov. Cuomo — a proud Italian-American and firm defender of Christopher Columbus — wasn’t summoned to Monday’s Columbus Day Parade, according to a specialist.
His flack Rich Azzopardi refused to comment — but after The Post contacted him, Vivolo sent a statement saying that while Cuomo “did not ask to march in the parade, [he] is certainly welcome to join.”
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Cuomo has advocated the cause of the explorer, pushing for statues to stay in leading places like Columbus Circle and the holiday in his honor to be kept on school calendars.
The mayor, however, has fought with the Columbus Citizens Foundation: in 2019, his wife, Chirlane McCray, cut Mother Frances Cabrini, America’s first canonized saint, from a list of honored women under attention for a statue in the city.
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De Blasio drew more anger from his fellow Italian-Americans in May, when the city public school system abandoned the holiday in favor of “Indigenous People’s Day.”
Last year, Vivolo said “No, he wasn’t invited,” when asked about Blasio.
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“Tight schedule. No ulterior motive,” Vivolo said.
Disputes between members of the Columbus Citizens Foundation and de Blasio and his wife, Chirlane McCray, erupted in 2019 when City Hall failed to include Mother Frances Cabrini — the beloved Italian American patron saint of immigrants — on its list of famous women to be praised with statues as part of the first lady’s “She Built NYC” program. Mother Cabrini had won the most appointments from the public.
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Following the quarrel, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced last Columbus Day that he would build a statue honoring Mother Cabrini with state funds.
The foundation named Cuomo the grand marshal of this year’s Columbus Day festivities.
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The governor revealed the Cabrini statue in Battery Park City during a live press conference that opened the special televised event that also included a performance by Andrea Bocelli and appearances by Joe Piscopo, Dr. Anthony Fauci and others.
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Cuomo’s office did invite de Blasio to attend the statue ceremony. The mayor instead sent an aide to represent him.
“The Mayor is out of state visiting family today so he would not have been able to attend,” said de Blasio spokesman Bill Neidhardt.