Winfield Plaza Park - Woodside, NY - Municipal Parks and Plazas on Waymarking.com

From the parks website:

WINFIELD WAR MEMORIAL
Winfield Plaza

Since 1926, Winfield Plaza had been home to the striking bronze victory figure known both as the Winfield War Memorial and Victorious America. Crafted by Italian-American sculptor James S. J. Novelli (1885–1940), it was removed after being severely damaged by a car in 2001.

Winfield was once the name given to this area in northwestern Queens, bounded by Queens Boulevard to the north, the New York Connecting Rail Road to the east, Mount Zion Cemetery and Maurice Avenue to the south, and New Calvary Cemetery to the west. The village, later considered part of Woodside, was developed in 1854 and named after General Winfield Scott (1786–1866), who distinguished himself in the Mexican War and was general-in-chief of the army at the outbreak of the Civil War (1861-1865).

The monument was a gift of the people of Winfield, and commissioned at a cost of $5,000 under the auspices of the Winfield Honor Roll Association. It honors the seven local men who gave their lives in service during World War I (1914-1918). The monument’s seven-foot-tall allegorical victory figure bears a sword in her right hand and a shield in her left, said by the original sponsors to be a “symbol of protection, good government and honor.” A general dedication and the names of the servicemen are inscribed on the pedestal of Stony Creek granite.

The statue was by Italian-American sculptor James S. J. Novelli. Born in Sulmona, a province of Aquila, Italy, in 1885, his family settled in New York when he was five years old. At an early age he impressed his teachers at P.S. 23 with his natural artistic skill. Novelli returned to Italy in 1903 to study, and while a student, earned an honorable mention for the artwork he submitted to the International Exposition in Paris, France in 1906. He graduated from the Royal Academy of Rome in 1908.

Returning to New York, where he resided at West 23rd Street in Manhattan, Novelli was much in demand as a sculptor of funereal and public monuments. Besides this monument, he also created the Clason Point War Memorial (1928) in the Bronx, the Saratoga Park War Memorial (1921; stolen and destroyed in 2000) in Brooklyn, and bronze mausoleum doors in Calvary Cemetery (1923) for which he won the Henry O. Avery Prize for sculpture. In the 1930s, Novelli worked on the Parks monuments conservation crew. However, during the Great Depression, his artistic career languished. After growing increasingly despondent, Novelli took his own life in 1940.

Due to its location at 65th Place and Laurel Hill Boulevard adjacent to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, the Winfield Memorial had suffered various indignities over the years. In 1958, completion of the nearby section of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway bisected the community, and orphaned the park triangle and monument to a location perilously close to an adjacent to an off-ramp. In 1969 and 1989 the statue was knocked from its perch by vehicles, and on the second occasion the head was severed from the body and reattached. The monument suffered from weathering, frequent attacks of graffiti, and other assaults by vandals; it received an in-house reconditioning in the 1990s by Parks crews.

In 1999, through a City capital contract, the sculpture was cleaned, repaired, repatined, and recoated. A replica granite pedestal replaced the one that had suffered over the years, and the new landscape design was meant to beautify the site and better protect the statue. Although these provisions were made, the site and the sculpture suffered extensive damage when they were struck by a car moving at high speed in December of 2001. The sculpture remains in storage, awaiting funding for restoration.

Name: Winfield Plaza Park Street Location: Woodside Ave, Bklyn-Queens Exwy, 69 St Local Municipality: Queens State/Province, etc.: NY Country: USA Web Site: [Web Link] Picnic Facilities: Tables Recreational Facilities: Chess tables Memorial/Commemoration: Not listed Date Established: Not listed Monuments/Statues: Not listed Art (murals/sculpture, etc.): Not listed Fountains: Not listed Ponds/Lakes/Streams/Rivers/Beach: Not listed Special Events: Not listed Traditional Geocaches: Not listed

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