Actor vows to restore vandalized LaGuardia statue

Cleanup of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia's defaced Greenwich Village statue will be helped along by actor Tony Lo Bianco -- a man familiar with the life of the city's diminutive Depression-era chief executive.

Lo Bianco played LaGuardia in a one-man Broadway production, "Hizzoner" and has vowed to help pay to remove the red paint that someone splashed on the statue Monday.

"It's disrespectful," Lo Bianco said. "Who would do that to a man like this? You can't even explain it."

Lawrence Goldberg, president of the Friends of LaGuardia Place community organization, said it "warmed his heart" to hear about Lo Bianco's concerns.

Goldberg found out that the statue was covered in red paint on Monday and immediately organized a power wash, assisted by the NYC Parks Department.

"Now I have a big smile on my face," he said.

After Lo Bianco read about what happened, he called the mayor's office to volunteer his money in cleaning up the rest of the paint on the statue.

Goldberg said that he doesn't think the cost of removing the rest of the paint will be very high. He said that he plans to speak to Lo Bianco to work out the details shortly.

Fiorello LaGuardia, whose first name means "little flower" in Italian, was known for revitalizing New York City during the Great Depression, uniting the transit system and building low-cost housing for the poor, minorities and immigrants, among other accomplishments.

The statue went up in 1994 on LaGuardia Place between Bleecker and West Third streets.

It was designed by sculptor Neil Estern and supported by the Friends of LaGuardia Place.

"He was an honest politician," Lo Bianco said of LaGuardia. "It's a rare, rare find in this or any country."