. .

Sorry , Mister Mayor:

You won’t convince us that Schenectady is a Smart City nor in a Renaissance as long as you keep our Lady Liberty Replica in such shabby surroundings and condition. Why not swallow your pride and announce that the two-year experiment at Erie Boulevard and Union Street has proven the wisdom of the original decision in the Gateway Plaza Comprehensive Plan to return Lady Liberty to Her home of 67 years at Washington Avenue and State Street.

The main sculpture base at Gateway/Liberty Plaza is at approximately the original location of The Statue and empty. Please, have the Liberty Replica moved back Home, ASAP.

 See, “Letters for the Lady” for the many letters to the editor and opinion pieces arguing for the return of Lady Liberty to Liberty Park. (Both James Wilson [to the Left] and Lance Jackson have written several times to the Gazette on behalf of Lady Liberty.) And, see “Lady Liberty is Timeless” to understand how Mayor McCarthy and Mary Wallinger created this avoidable civic and aesthetic crisis in Schenectady.

• Step-Child Treatment: The posting “Our stepchild Lady Liberty” shows how poorly Lady Liberty is being treated compared to nearby, far less significant locations in downtown Schenectady. And, “Will civic pride save Schenectady’s Lady Liberty” detailing how much better the 100+ Boy Scout Liberty replicas existing around the nation are being treated, especially the others located in Upstate New York.

Our lament last year, decrying the 1st Year of Exile, had no effect on Schenectady City Hall, here in the land of bad faith and bad taste along the Mohawk. Maybe this year’s protest will finally succeed.