Frank Rizzo, Hero-Villain Mayor (Gone)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia's Frank Rizzo was a rough-edged, larger-than-life force on the city's political landscape for several decades -- a cop, police commissioner, and then 2-term mayor tough on crime in the 1970s. He was known for his sometimes ludicrous statements to the press, and famously failed a polygraph test after accusing another politician of lying. The headline of his New York Times obituary in 1991 called him "a 'Hero' and 'Villian'." You either loved or hated the guy.
Love apparently conquers all -- a giant bronze statue of Rizzo stands in front of the Municipal Services building near city hall, strutting down the plaza steps in his suit, hand raised to wave to fans (or wave off critics). Reminds us a bit of Dearborn, MI's Jaunty Racist Mayor statue (removed in June 2020).
Rizzo's statue, by sculptor Zenos Frudakis, is 10 ft. tall and was installed in 1999. The imposing figure shares the plaza with the large games pieces from another work, "Your Move."
An outdoor mural in Philadelphia's Italian Market connects him to that ethnic community, still proud of his legacy.
Update, June 3, 2020: Already slated for removal by 2021, the Rizzo statue's fate was accelerated after a week of public BLM demonstrations triggered by the death in Minneapolis of George Floyd, The statue was spray-painted anddefaced by protestors, then removed by officials into out-of-sight storage. No plans for its future have been released.
