Frank Rizzo is returning to the light of day. No, not the in-the-flesh Bambino, the Cisco Kid, the police commissioner and mayor in the flesh — but his 9-foot bronze likeness. Crusading lawyer George Bochetto filed suit against the city in July 2020 alleging improper treatment of the statue, which had been erected in 1998. You may recall the Frank Rizzo statue was unlawfully removed in the middle of the night by gutless Mayor Jim Kenney.

The statue, I have learned, is planned to be returned to its legal owner, the Frank L. Rizzo Monument Committee, which had commissioned it. The city’s law department is very close to finalizing a deal with Bochetto, who represents the Monument Committee. The city declined comment because the law suit is still active.