I would like to commend Governor Andrew Cuomo and his statue panel for honoring Mother Francis Cabrini with a statue in Battery Park, especially after she was snubbed for the honor after obtaining the most votes in a campaign created by first lady Chirlane McCray’s “She Built NYC” program. I am proud that New York State will invest the funds needed to build the statue. Mother Cabrini was an Italian-American immigrant who became the patron saint of immigrants, as well as the United States’ first naturalized citizen to be canonized, and her work should not have been overlooked by the city, which is why it’s appropriate for the state to honor Mother Cabrini’s dedicated work in helping all people of New York.