NYC seamstress, 95, reunited with long-lost Garment District statue of herself from decades ago
It’s a stitch in time.
A 95-year-old former master seamstress was reunited Wednesday with a long-lost statue of herself that stood for nearly four decades in the lobby of the Garment District suit company where she once worked.
The life-sized plaster likeness of Maria Pulsone — which will soon go on display at the Italian American Museum — was found by her granddaughter, who waged an online odyssey to find the artwork in a dusty warehouse in Scranton, Pa.
“Growing up I always knew there was this statue of my grandmother when she was a New York City seamstress. I was always curious about it,” her granddaughter, Jennifer Pulsone Heppner, 41, told The Post.
The now-retired nonagenarian got to see the statue — which captures her in the act of sewing with a look of firm concentration on her face — at a ceremony at the Mulberry Street museum Wednesday. She showed she was still all business when asked what she thought of the honor.
“Eh, it’s alright,” she said flatly.
In 1984, Pulsone’s boss at the Saint Laurie firm, Andy Kozinn, wanted to “create an experience for the customer” with art depicting a worker at the building on East 20th Street near Broadway.
So he asked Pulsone to pose for the statue because she was “one of the best” seamstresses and the “most social, friendly,” Heppner said.
As workers entered and left the building, they could often be heard playfully greeting the figure, which depicts Pulsone with thread and needle.
“Everybody [would say], ‘Good morning, Maria.’ Good night, Maria,'” Pulsone recalled.
The statue sat proudly at 897 Broadway until 2018, when the firm moved and the antique company took it.
Last year, Heppner said her husband encouraged her to track it down.
“A quick Google search of ‘woman sewing statue’ led us down a rabbit hole but it didn’t take that long and we found that the statue was for sale in an antique warehouse in Scranton,” said Heppner.
“I was like ‘Is that really her?’ He said ‘look at that face’ and I said ‘oh yeah, that’s her!’” she said.
She paid the antique company $600 for it and soon launched a mission to find a spot to showcase the statue of her grandma, who moved to the US from Italy in 1955 when she was 27 years old.
“She represents that generation of hardworking immigrants that came to this country and really appreciated the country they live in,” she said. “It tells the story of the American Dream.”
Pulsone, who is now living in Flushing, Queens, worked as a seamstress for 4 years in Rochester and 45 years in the Big Apple.
“It was beautiful. I enjoyed my work very much,” she said.
A museum exhibit featuring the statue opens at the museum this summer.
“Maria’s story is the story of so many hard-working Italian immigrants, especially those who toiled in the garment industry,” said Dr. Joseph Scelsa, president of the Italian American Museum.
“We are deeply honored to accept the sculpture, which encapsulates a historically significant chapter in the history of Italian immigration in New York.”
Lou LaCarbonara, the president of the Italian American Labor Council, hailed Pulsone as a hardworking US immigrant.
“Maria is an outstanding example of the dedication of thousands of unionized Italian immigrants who contributed greatly to the American experience,” LaCarbonara said. “Thanks to her well-honed sartorial skills, New Yorkers looked their best on job interviews and family functions.”
