There's a debate surrounding a city initiative to install statues dedicated to accomplished women in history, and Governor Cuomo has officially weighed in.

Cuomo pledged his support last night for a statue of Mother Frances Cabrini, an Italian-American who is the patron saint of immigrants and the first person in America to be canonized a saint.

Mother Cabrini was among 300 names First Lady Shirlane McCray included in the “She Built NYC” competition for people to vote on. Despite unquestionably winning the poll, the city opted to go with seven other women instead.

Last night, Cuomo jumped in, calling for a Cabrini memorial to be erected. He also discussed the increasing tensions among different ethnic groups across the country and city, narrowing in on the stereotyping impacting the Italian-American community.

"As Italian-Americans, we must also remember that we ourselves are not immune from attack,” Cuomo said. “The ugliness of Italian-American stereotyping is still alive and well. Our battle is not over, for all our progress, for all our efforts, we still must be vigilant and active in demanding respect for the Italian-American community."

This past week, Mayor de Blasio and actor Chazz Palminteri got into a heated exchange on WNYC's "The Brian Lehrer Show" over a recent report the actor had labeled the first lady of the city "racist" for rejecting Cabrini as an honoree.