Columbus and Kay

Anyone who attended City Council meetings in the last decades of the 2oth Century probably has Columbus Day and the late Kay Cotignola inextricably entwined in their memory.

Kay revered her Italian heritage and saw it reflected in the world-famous Albert Bierstadt painting, "Landing of Columbus," a city-owned painting that hangs in Municipal Court.

There was plenty of controversy over the painting as well, but Plaintalker offers this remembrance of Kay on Columbus Day 2011. If you want to see the painting for yourself, attend the City Council meeting at 8 p.m. Tuesday in the courtroom at 325 Watchung Avenue.

--Bernice