Jersey City statue battle heads to court

Earlier this week, I had a conversation on air with Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop over his decision to remove a statue honoring 20,000+ polish military officers at the hands of the Soviet Secret Police in 1940.

Several people think the Mayor was a bit arrogant and dismissive when challenged on the fact that there was no involvement from the local Polish-American community. Two lawsuits have been filed as local groups seek a restraining order to stop the Mayor from removing the statue from it's current waterfront location.

One of the voices opposing the Mayor's move is former Senator Ray Lesniak, also a proud Polish-American, who joined me Thursday on the morning show. He wrote an article earlier in the week defending against the accusation that the statue is too gruesome for display. The statue depicts a soldier with his hands tied behind his back being impaled by a bayonet.

Ray had a very thoughtful and well reasoned argument and we both agreed that politics could use a little more dialogue between government and the people they serve and a little less arrogance from politicians.

Bill Spadea is on the air weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m., talkin’ Jersey, taking your calls at 1-800-283-1015. Tweet him @NJ1015 or @BillSpadea. The opinions expressed here are solely those of Bill Spadea.

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