The event will take place in Manhattan's Battery Park City on Columbus Day.
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With the Columbus Day Parade having to go virtual this year due to the pandemic, the governor says there is a silver lining.
"This year we unveil a magnificent monument to our Italian-American legacy and that monument will stand for all-time," Cuomo said. "Last Columbus Day if you remember, one year ago, we said that we could work together and create a statue of the blessed Mother Cabrini. And now in honor of Columbus Day, we will do just that."
Cuomo also showed his appreciation for the Italian-American Roman Catholic nun Mother Cabrini.
"Mother Cabrini is the personification of the Italian-American legacy," he said. "She founded 67 schools, hospitals and orphanages. She served the poor and the immigrants. She had boundless energy and unlimited capacity and she was a model for female empowerment before the expression was ever used - doing all of this in the late 1800s and early 1900s."
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Cuomo says the ceremony will be socially distanced.
"Our only consideration is the size of the crowd, there is a Cabrini commission that worked on the statue itself," Cuomo said. "But the mayor, speaker, city council are always invited. They are invited. The whole audience, the whole gathering, will be socially distanced and appropriate."
RELATED: Italian Heritage and Achievement Celebration airs Columbus Day on ABC7
Italian Heritage and Achievement Celebration airs Columbus Day on ABC7
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